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With latest group of nine, Monmouth College's Kieft research program hits 100-student mark

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, Ill. (07/30/2024) — The nine students who gave talks earlier this month as part of Monmouth College's Doc Kieft Summer Research Program explored a variety of topics, including nitrogen-nitrogen bonds, FNR proteins and HDL-cholesterol interactions.

But no matter where the main body of their talks took them, the students always came back in their closing remarks to an expression of gratitude for the late Richard "Doc" Kieft, the beloved Monmouth chemistry professor whose $2.3 million estate gift to the college made the undergraduate research program possible.

"We are grateful to Doc for the endowment he left our department so we can run this wonderful program," said chemistry professor Audra Goach. "Doc is remembered by many at the college as a huge supporter of students in all disciplines. This summer opportunity is one of the highlights for the majors in our program."

And this summer the program passed the century mark. Started in the summer of 2011, 100 students have participated since its inception. This year's group began working on their research projects in late May.

"Students spend time in the scientific literature, learning new techniques and collecting data," said Goach. "These projects are not complete yet, and many will continue their work throughout the remainder of their academic career at Monmouth."

Field trips to academia, industry

Although time in the lab is a major part of the program, this year's group of students also took two field trips, visiting the University of Iowa in June and Veloxity Labs in Peoria in July. At Iowa, the students explored the Environmental Engineering and Sciences Research Laboratories, the Iowa Wastewater and Waste to Energy Research Program, the materials and fabrication facility, and the chemistry facilities.

Monmouth chemistry alumni Chris Knutson '16 and Scott Shaw '03 hosted the Iowa visit. Knutson manages the environmental engineering and sciences lab and Shaw is an associate professor of chemistry and director of the university's graduate studies.

While at Iowa, the group connected with alumni currently in the chemistry graduate school, including Logan Evans '21, YeJun Park '17, Sreya Roy '23 and Josie Welker '21.

Veloxity is a pharmaceutical contract research organization focused on bioanalysis. Another chemistry alum, Mitch Johnson '12, is a co-founder of the lab and serves as its director. Several more chemistry alumni connections occurred there, including Arika Hofmann Dulin '22, who serves as an associate scientist, sample coordinator Hannah Hofmann '21 and client experience coordinator Britta Nichols Johnson '11.

"It's important for our students to see the contrast between working in an academic environment in graduate school and that of entering the workforce after graduation," said chemistry professor Laura Moore.

"The department is extremely fortunate to have successful alumni who want to give back to our current students," said Goach. "The conversations we had at both places are invaluable to our students as they are deciding their career paths after Monmouth. ... At Veloxity, our students had a chance to share their research project topics with the staff, and they always impress me with how well they can communicate their work."

Back to the talks

On campus, the nine students communicated their work to an audience including new Monmouth President Pat Draves and her husband, Jeff, who were both chemistry professors at Monmouth from 2002-06. Their talks covered what they proposed with their research and the data they collected during the summer.

"I'm really excited to continue this research," said Ilese Rodeffer '25 of Bushnell, Illinois, whose work with the gene catp-6 in the roundworm C. elegans could have implications for Parkinson's disease. "To the best of our knowledge, no one else has investigated this nicotine connection with catp-6 since 2005. It's just been sitting in WormBase since 2005."

As she introduced each student, Goach showed a slide that listed their campus involvements. Annalyn Lovell '26 of Oneida, Illinois, had a typical cocurricular resume, participating in golf, the Panhellenic Council and the Wind Ensemble. She, too, chose a topic that had not been researched heavily, and her project included mutating residue H19 into six different amino acids.

Incoming Scots Senate president Carina Engst '26 of Bloomington, Illinois, said her FNR research led her to a valuable personal discovery.

"Research is about communicating with a lot of people all the time," she said. "You also have to learn how to fail and be OK with that. You can make mistakes and still learn."

The rest of the students in the program were Alejandro Arteaga '24 of Monmouth, Em Canterbury '25 of Orion, Illinois, Spencer Corn '25 of Kansas City, Missouri, Kamea Graham '26 of Chicago, Alyssa McDaniel '26 of Gillespie, Illinois, and Peter Soutsos '26 of Highland Park, Illinois.

Other faculty involved were Michael Prinsell from chemistry and Janet Ugolino from neuroscience.

At the opening of the talks, Jeff Draves, a 1985 Monmouth grad, shared some of his memories of Kieft, who was his professor in the 1980s and a department colleague two decades later.

"Doc was really good about bringing energy," he said. "Things might be going sideways in a lab, but Doc could change the mood instantly. And he knew just about every student on campus, not just the chemistry majors."

At the close of Kieft's 31-year career as a Monmouth professor, he joined the college's board of trustees, serving until his death in 2009. The rest of his endowment to the college supports scholarships and travel, especially attendance for students and faculty at the national American Chemical Society conference.

Media Attachments

Rising senior Ilese Rodeffer of Bushnell, Illinois, is one of 100 students who've participated in the Doc Kieft Summer Research Program since its inception in 2011.

Paying homage to the beloved Monmouth chemistry professor Richard "Doc" Kieft, the students who gave undergraduate research talks July 18 in the Pattee Auditorium are pictured with their faculty who guided them on their projects. From left are chemistry professor Audra Goach, Alyssa McDaniel, Kamea Graham, Annalyn Lovell, Ilese Rodeffer, Carina Engst, chemistry professor Laura Moore (holding Kieft portrait), Peter Soutsos, Alejandro Arteaga, Spencer Corn, Em Canterbury, chemistry professor Michael Prinsell and neuroscience professor Janet Ugolino.

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