Three Minute Thesis Finalists Compete
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 11, 2016) — Nine graduate student finalists will compete for cash prizes at the University of Kentucky Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition from 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, in Gatton College pf Business and Economics' Kincaid Auditorium.
The competitors are each given three minutes to describe their research to the audience. The winner will receive $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to the Southern Council of Graduate Schools Regional Competition to be held March 2-5, in Annapolis, Maryland. The second-place finisher will receive $500 and third place $250. A People’s Choice winner selected by the audience in attendance will receive $125.
Sponsored by the Graduate Student Congress and the Student Government Association, 3MT is a research communication initiative requiring graduate students to speak succinctly and engagingly about their current research to a nonspecialist audience.
The finalists, their major and the title of their research include:
- Cynthia Dickerson, pharmaceutical sciences, "Multivariate Analysis: Making Medicine Safe for You!";
- Carleigh Fedorka, veterinary sciences, "The dirty broodmare ... cleaned up";
- Karen Guettler-James, educational psychology, "Resiliency: A Necessity for Black Male College Students";
- Michael Halcomb, linguistics, "Amen to that!: Using Linguistics to Analyze the History of a Word";
- Jaclyn Johnson, political science, "Squeaky Wheels and Troop Loyalty: How Domestic Protests Influence Coups d’état, 1951–2005";
- Jessica Richard, agricultural economics, "Dairy Margin Protection Program";
- Hannah Ruehl, English, "Fighting the Grey: Aging and Victorian Women";
- Andrew Welleford, anatomy and neurobiology, "Nerve Support Cells: The Key to Stopping Parkinson's Disease?"; and
- Kai Zhang, pharmacology,"Blocking MCP-1, a Potential Preventative Therapy for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)."