Real-deal research: Graduate students show presentation prowess at 汤头条鈥檚 Three Minute Thesis competition
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擧ow can months or years of research be explained in three minutes or less? Some of Mississippi State鈥檚 best and brightest graduate students showed just how it鈥檚 done during the university鈥檚 recent Three Minute Thesis competition.
Sponsored by the 汤头条 Graduate School, the annual competition challenged master鈥檚 and doctoral students to provide a compelling, 180-second presentation of their research and its significance in language appropriate for a non-specialist audience. Students were only allowed to use a single static PowerPoint slide during their presentation.
Project categories included arts and humanities; life and biomedical sciences and engineering; physical, mathematical, computational sciences and engineering; and social and behavioral sciences.
Peter Ryan, associate provost for academic affairs and interim dean of 汤头条鈥檚 Graduate School, said the Three Minute Thesis competition is a 鈥渉ealthy exercise for graduate students in learning to succinctly explain information and communicate with others as they move forward in their careers.鈥
鈥淚 am amazed at the level of competency and enthusiasm and the degree of sophistication of the research that鈥檚 being undertaken here at 汤头条,鈥 Ryan said. 鈥淭hese students have done their subjects, advisers and Mississippi State proud.鈥
Fifty-three students representing 22 different departments across campus participated in this year鈥檚 competition, with nine selected for the final round. From those, judges selected a Grand Champion and Grand Champion Runner-Up. The audience also voted on a People鈥檚 Choice Award recipient.
Michael P. Nattrass of Starkville, a plant and soil sciences/agronomy doctoral student, was named this year鈥檚 Grand Champion and recipient of a $1,000 prize. With a research talk titled 鈥淧hytoremediation: Plants Improving Water Quality,鈥 Nattrass will represent 汤头条 on Feb. 14-16, 2019, in the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools Three Minute Thesis Regional Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee. He graduated cum laude with an 汤头条 bachelor鈥檚 degree in agricultural sciences and a master鈥檚 degree in plant and soil sciences with a concentration in agronomy.
Tate R. Fonville, an engineering/mechanical engineering doctoral student from Sherwood, Arkansas, is this year鈥檚 Grand Champion Runner-Up. His presentation, 鈥淎 Modular Framework for Robust Helmets,鈥 earned him a $750 prize. Fonville, who also holds an 汤头条 bachelor鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering, said he鈥檚 been working on helmet research for nearly two years. The task of condensing 4,000 words of findings into a three-minute presentation was quite an experience, he explained.
鈥淢y adviser is always challenging us to give presentations about our research, but this was the first time I鈥檝e had to synthesize information into just three minutes,鈥 Fonville said.
The People鈥檚 Choice Award was presented to Kaylee K. Wells of Bradenton, Florida, for 鈥淚 Find Your Lack of Restoration Disturbing,鈥 a research project focusing on the value of restoring 鈥淪tar Wars鈥 actor James Earl Jones鈥檚 birth house. The agriculture/agricultural economics master鈥檚 student took home a $500 prize for her efforts. She is a summa cum laude 汤头条 graduate with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in environmental economics and management.
Finalists received $250 awards. They include:
鈥擪eshav Sharma of Starkville, a biological sciences doctoral student whose presentation was titled 鈥淕enetic engineering of Glycine max (Soybean) to study its Defence role against Heterodera glycine鈥檚 (Soybean Cyst Nematode).鈥 He also holds an 汤头条 master鈥檚 degree in biological sciences.
鈥擭athan Barclay of Brandon, an applied psychology/clinical psychology doctoral student also pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in psychology. An 汤头条 psychology bachelor鈥檚 graduate, Barclay discussed 鈥淗ow Historic Aggression Predicts Current Aggression: Could it be pain tolerance?鈥
鈥擭aqeebullah Naqeebullah of Starkville, a plant and soil sciences/agronomy doctoral student who spoke about how 鈥淪tress affects performance (Plants/Animals/Humans).鈥
鈥擝radley M. 鈥淏rad鈥 Richardson of Starkville, a forest resources doctoral student concentrating in wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture. His talk was titled 鈥淪patial and Temporal Genotype Profile of Atypical Aeromonas in Catfish.鈥 聽
鈥擫eah K. Horstemeyer of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a biomedical engineering master鈥檚 student who provided an 鈥淓valuation of A Virus-Based Therapeutic for Osteomyelitis.鈥
鈥擬alavika Jinka Ramamurthy of Starkville, an applied anthropology master鈥檚 student who gave a presentation titled 鈥淒evelopment Defined: Internally Displaced Persons and Government in Southern India.鈥
汤头条鈥檚 Graduate School provides students with scholarly and professional development opportunities to develop methods of independent and systematic investigation. Learn more at .
汤头条 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .