BOISE, Idaho, June 12 -- Boise State University issued the following news release:
Madison Dirks (MS, chemistry, 2021; MS, biomolecular sciences, 2024; PhD, biomolecular sciences, 2026) came to Boise State in 2019 from her hometown of Richland, Washington, to study poisonous plants.
Today, she's helping revolutionize how we understand proteins in our milk. The journey between those areas of study was more of a leap than a linear path.
As a doctoral student, Dirks dove into natural products chemistry, researching Veratrum californicum. This highly toxic, six-foot-tall, corn-like plant can cause birth defects in livestock when grazed during early pregnancy. When she finished her master's, a surprising opportunity came along thanks to Owen ...