UM research labs are an important incubator for Montana’s young scientists and offer valuable peer mentorship opportunities to students involved.

Mila McKay is a Hellgate High School student in Willow Affleck’s Advanced Problems in Science class. She has conducted research for two years in Professor Monica Serban’s lab at UM.

At the recent Montana Tech Regional Science and Engineering Fair for high school students from Montana, Idaho, Utah and Nevada, McKay won the Division 1 Top Scoring 12th Grade Project, the Division 1 International Science and Engineering Fair Attendee First Place Grand Award and Blue Ribbon – Gold Medal, for her paper on veterinary applications for silk sutures. The paper is titled “Silk Fibroin-Coated Drug-Eluting Sutures”.

McKay will attend ISEF for the second year in a row, representing Montana. UM thanks Dr. Monica Serban and her lab for supporting young scientists!