BC Students Present Discovery Day Projects 

The Mount’s Wangari Committee, which promotes care of the earth, provided grants for two 2025 Benedictine College (BC) Discovery Day projects. The grants support research related to stewardship, sustainability, women’s equality, and environmental justice. Students presented a report on their projects to the sisters on May 1, 2025. 

Sophia Valdivia and Erica Willard investigated how Esp8, EspK, and EspJ mediate mycobacterial virulence. The goal of this project was to study the secretion mechanism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium responsible for tuberculosis (TB). Insights from this study could help facilitate the development of more targeted antibiotics and create a less expensive TB vaccine for people in countries where access to affordable medical care is limited. 

Jessica Mannella, Tess Scheske, and Anna Wingebermuehle (pictured above, L-R) explored the effect of pH on pyrethrum production in Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium. Pyrethrins are pesticides found naturally in some chrysanthemum flowers. This project looked at the ability of C. cinerariifolium to produce pyrethrum when it is treated with different types of fertilizers. Increased potency of pyrethrins could reduce the use of synthetic insecticides, which are harmful to the environment. 

Two BC student volunteers, Abigaile Hygema and Louie Roth, prepared a poster for Discovery Day that explored the annual savings the Mount achieves through its sustainability practices. They presented their poster to the sisters on May 7, 2025. Abigaile and Louie gathered information about the Mount’s use of solar panels and hybrid cars, beekeeping and gardening activities, bulk bread baking, in-house clothing exchange, and use of volunteer labor. They determined that the Mount saves close to $40,000 per year through these efforts. Abigaile noted, “We were surprised how much was saved just by doing little things.”