LSAMP student presents MAPS research at the Emerging Researchers National Conference in Washington DC

Emireth Monarrez

     Emireth Monarrez didn’t give much thought to doing scientific research when she was in high school even though science came easy to her and she knew "I always I wanted to major in science."  She didn't think student research was even a possibility until her cousin, Areli Monarrez-Valles, mentioned her involvment with the Kansas State University (KSU) Developing Scholars Program (DPS). Hearing about her cousin's DPS research experience sparked her desire to find similar college research opportunities. So, during her freshman year at Seward County Community College (SCCC), Emireth looked for and found the Kansas Bridges to the Future Program (Bridges SSSC). The Kansas Bridges SSSC program is funded by the National Institutes of Health and encourages underrepresented minority students in the biomedical sciences to begin their studies at community colleges and then transfer to KSU to complete a bachelor’s degree. Through the Bridges program, Emireth worked with SCCC Biology Instructor, Myron Perry, on a research project that focused on methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus and multi-drug resistant bacteria. This research project led to an opportunity to have her research presented at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Arizona. Emireth said working on this research project with Mr. Perry “sparked an even bigger interest to continue doing research in different fields outside the biomedical sciences.”
    It was through the Bridges SCCC Program that Emireth discovered the KSU Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Research Immersion: Pathway to STEM (RiPS) Program. The RiPS program is an 8-week summer research experience at KSU in which students conduct independent research with a faculty mentor. Seeing this RiPS program as an opportunity to explore other areas of science, Emireth chose to pursue a research project in plant microbiology and was paired with Dr. Tom Platt, Assistant Professor of Biology at KSU and plant systems research team member for the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS).
     Emireth's MAPS research project is titled Characterizing the diversity of agrobacteria on the roots of common sunflowers, Helianthus annuus, at Konza Prairie and she explains her project as follows: “The purpose of my research was to identify and characterize the diversity in the agrobacteria population across plants. I was trying to create a phylogenetic tree that would show if the agrobacteria was largely clonal or diverse. As far as methodology, the first thing I did was collect Helianthus annuus from the Konza Prairie and afterwards sample for agrobacterial isolates. After obtaining agrobacterial isolates I used a semi-selective media to identify that I was indeed working with agrobacteria. After the semi-selective test, I performed a biochemical test, 3-ketolactose test, which would further validate that the isolates were agrobacteria. Then, I streaked purified 360 agrobacteria isolates across 20 common sunflower plants into pure culture and preserved them for future genetic characterization. Lastly, I ran a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to obtain the DNA sequence of the recA region from the isolates. Unfortunately, I was not able to create my own phylogenetic tree due to lack of time, but I plan to continue my work with Dr. Platt in order to eventulally create the phylogenetic tree and determine if the agrobacteria is diverse or clonal.” As a result of her summer research efforts, this past February, Emireth presented her MAPS research at the Emerging Researcher National (ERN)Conference in Washington DC.

Emireth and Dr. Platt with his research lab team

     Emireth said her favorite part of the RiPS experience was learning new scientific techniques “as well as how to better understand a peer-reviewed article.” In addition, she said “I learned how to better communicate with team members and how to be a well rounded scientist in a lab." With regards to the KSU LSAMP RiPS programmatic support, she added "Dr. King had great advice. Her classes…were extremely beneficial and she definitely was setting us up for success." When asked what her favorite part of the ERN Conference was, she said “My favorite part of the experience, aside from getting to see all the sights since I have never been to Washington D.C., was presenting. I loved being able to explain to people what I did the entire summer, as well as being asked what I planned to do next, etc."

     Emireth is from Liberal, Kansas and is an active member of HALO, Bridges, TRiO, and Phi-Theta-Kappa (PTK) at SCCC. She also volunteers at the local hospital. After she earns her associate's degree, Emireth plans to transfer to KSU in the fall of 2019. She also plans “to continue to work with Dr. Platt on my summer RiPS project since I did not get to finish it....” At KSU, Emireth plans to either major in Biology or Microbiology.
Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for KSU LSAMP RiPS program is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas. The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.