CAS selects 3-Minute Thesis competition winners
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | CAS Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-7497 | egosney@okstate.edu
Six College of Arts and Sciences graduate students won awards at the 2023 CAS finals round of the 3-Minute Thesis competition.
Fifteen students competed in the competition’s finals on Oct. 12. Katarina Mapes, a doctoral student in the Department of Integrative Biology, claimed first place. Second place ended in a tie between integrative biology doctoral students Jesse Hurd and Neil Balchan.
These three students have been chosen to represent CAS in the university-wide competition Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. in the Student Union Theatre.
“3-Minute Thesis is an exciting challenge for our graduate students,” said Dr. Rachael Eaton, program manager of CAS student research. “Not only do they have to explain complex research topics, but they must do so in a way that sparks the audience’s curiosity and leaves us wanting to know more. I am consistently impressed by our outstanding researchers at 3MT events.”
All six 3MT winners are listed below with their hometowns and presentation titles.
CAS 3MT Winners:
People’s Choice Award
Mohadeseh Naderi - Tehran, Iran
Doctoral student with Dr. Yolanda Vasquez, Chemistry
Presentation title: “Revolutionizing Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment with Gold Nanoparticles”
First Place
Katarina Mapes - Fairview, Texas
Doctoral student with Dr. Guin Wogan, Integrative Biology
Presentation title: “The Aging Game”
Second Place
Jesse Hurd - Gordon, Nebraska
Doctoral student with Dr. Elizabeth McCullagh, Integrative Biology
Presentation title: “The Secret Life of an American Prairie Vole”
Second Place
Neil Balchan - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Doctoral student with Dr. Guin Wogan, Integrative Biology
Presentation title: “Bridging the Gap between Biodiversity and Snakebite using Integrated-Omics”
Third Place
Alexandra Serbinovskaya - Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblas, Russia
Doctoral student with Dr. Stephanie Link, TESOL & Linguistics
Presentation title: “Benefits of Gaming for Collaborative Writing”
Third Place
Himidu Pitigala - Colombo, Sri Lanka
Doctoral student with Dr. Michael Reichert, Integrative Biology
Presentation title: “Microbes and alluring frog calls: The Effect of the Skin Microbiome on Calling Behavior in Treefrogs ”
3-Minute Thesis is trademarked by the University of Queensland. For more information about the university finals, click here.
Story By: Erin Weaver, CAS Communications Coordinator | erin.weaver@okstate.edu