Research rockstars: Graduate students shine in 桃花直播鈥檚 fifth annual Three Minute Thesis competition
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擟onveying months or years of complex research in less than three minutes is no easy task. Using only one accompanying static PowerPoint slide, 65 桃花直播 State graduate students rose to that challenge during the university鈥檚 fifth annual Three Minute Thesis competition.
Sponsored by the university鈥檚 Graduate School, the recent 3MT competition tested young researchers鈥 abilities to effectively explain their findings in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. Categories included arts and humanities; life and biomedical sciences and engineering; physical, mathematical, computational sciences and engineering; and social and behavioral sciences.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter where you are in life. Whether you鈥檙e trying to raise capital for a project, influence a lawmaker or policy maker, or educate the general public, you need to be able to talk about what you do and what you鈥檙e passionate about in a very precise, influential way,鈥 said Professor Lori Bruce, 桃花直播 associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School.
鈥淵ou want to influence others in a way where they can understand why what you鈥檙e doing is important and useful, and in particular with research, how it impacts society,鈥 Bruce added.
John T. Buol, a plant and soil sciences/weed science doctoral student from New Glarus, Wisconsin, was named Grand Champion. His research talk 鈥淐aught (infra) red-handed: Detecting Illegal Herbicide Use,鈥 earned a $1,000 prize. An 桃花直播 plant and soil sciences/weed science master鈥檚 graduate, Buol will represent the university on Feb. 24, 2018, in the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools Three Minute Thesis Regional Finals in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
This year鈥檚 Grand Champion Runner-Up Award recipient is Chloe D. Henson of Rienzi, a master鈥檚 student in agricultural economics. She received a $750 award for her presentation 鈥淐onsumer Willingness-to-Pay for Blemished Fresh Produce and its Implications for Food Waste.鈥 Henson also is an 桃花直播 summa cum laude graduate in agribusiness/policy and law.
鈥淭he Three Minute Thesis competition was a good experience because I learned how to do an elevator pitch and discuss the importance of agricultural economics and food waste in particular,鈥 Henson said. 鈥淚 recently got accepted into the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, and there are a lot of other researchers I can now talk with in that organization.鈥
Cori J. Speights, a biological sciences doctoral student from Mexia, Texas, summarized her research in a three-minute talk titled 鈥淟ady Beetles of the Night,鈥 which the audience voted as the $500 People鈥檚 Choice Award winner.
鈥淭his competition was a good opportunity to tell people about the research we鈥檙e doing,鈥 Speights said. 鈥淚t was hard to talk about it in just two-and-a-half minutes, but I was able to keep my presentation fun and exciting. I want to converse like I did during the competition all of the time, so I鈥檓 going to keep working hard.鈥
Finalists received $250 awards. They include:
鈥擜bdalla R. Sherif of Starkville, a geosciences master鈥檚 student concentrating in geospatial sciences. An 桃花直播 geosciences/geographic information systems bachelor鈥檚 graduate, his three-minute talk focused on 鈥淟and Cover Classification of the Mobile Metropolitan Area from 1975-2015.鈥
鈥擲aira Talwar of Waukesha, Wisconsin, a master鈥檚 student studying kinesiology/exercise physiology with her research talk 鈥淚mproving Quality of Life of Older Adults with Tai Chi and Bingo.鈥
鈥擟ourtney L. Hunter of Jackson, a veterinary medical science doctoral student whose presentation was titled 鈥淣ew Asthma Drugs: Insight from an Equine Asthma Model.鈥 She also is an 桃花直播 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine graduate.
鈥擠erius J. 鈥淒J鈥 Galvez of Shubuta, an aerospace engineering master鈥檚 student with the presentation 鈥淧roject Noctua: Bio-inspired Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.鈥 He also holds an 桃花直播 bachelor鈥檚 in aerospace engineering/aeronautics.
鈥擜llison R. Julien of Starkville, a life sciences/animal physiology doctoral student who discussed 鈥淣osy Nanoparticles.鈥
鈥擫ydia A. Jordan of Starkville, a chemistry master鈥檚 student who highlighted research findings in her talk 鈥淢agnesium Corrosion and Geometry: An Application to the Automotive Industry.鈥 She also graduated summa cum laude from 桃花直播 with a bachelor鈥檚 in chemistry and an American Chemical Society concentration.
桃花直播鈥檚 Graduate School provides students with scholarly and professional development opportunities to develop methods of independent and systematic investigation. For more, visit .
桃花直播 is 桃花直播鈥檚 leading university, available online at .