Brandon Kellie loading a centrifuge during an assay to test for corticosterone.

BRANDON KELLIE

Department of Biology
Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071.

Mentor: Terry Derting 

Summary:
 

Over the course of the summer, I worked on several research projects that Dr. Derting was conducting.  This exposed me to a wide variety of methods, tests, and procedures.  I was trained to understand and run polymerase chain reactions to test for paternity in house mice  (Mus musculus), DNA isolation and replication, dissection of house mice (Mus musculus) , radio-immuno assays for testosterone and corticosterone, and white blood cell counts.  I also learned the proper techniques for preparing mammals (mink, prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), and white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus)) to be museum specimens.  Outside of the lab, I assisted in the trapping of small mammals to survey and record the small mammal fauna of Terrapin Creek State Nature Preserve in Graves County, KY.  I also constructed many web pages for Dr. Derting’s website (http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/terry.derting/derting.htm) and gained expertise with computers, various software programs, and digital cameras.

 

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