Ten Students to Compete for Three Minute Thesis Awards

NORMAN, OKLA. – Ten students from eight departments were named finalists for the Three Minute Thesis competition hosted by the University of Oklahoma Graduate College this week.

"The Three Minute Thesis competition provides graduate students a wonderful opportunity to learn how to present their research effectively to a broad, non-specialist audience," said Randall Hewes, dean of the OU Norman Graduate College. "This is our eighth year of 3MT at OU and our first year partnering with the Sam Noble Museum for the finals. With departments tying this event to graduate student recruitment visits, this event promises to be our best yet."

The finalists will have three minutes and one presentation slide to explain their research topic and highlight its significance for a panel of judges. The first-place awardee will receive $2,000 and the runner-up will receive $1,500. The competition will be held at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 23. Attendees will be able to vote for the “People’s Choice Award,” which will award the fan-favorite presentation $1,000.

Winners for each award will be announced at a reception immediately following the event.

The 3MT competition originated at the University of Queensland in Australia in 2008 and has since expanded to over 900 universities globally. This competition offers graduate students a distinct chance to present their research to a broader audience and to develop essential skills in effectively communicating their work.

The student finalists are:

• Amanda Siew - Journalism and Mass Communication - Job Burnout in Local News: Perspective from Generation Z Television Journalists
• Ami Frost - Sociology - Different by Degrees: Relationship Quality Differences by Level of Education
• Ant Woodall - Communication - Constricting the Body Politics: Why We are Uncomfortable Talking Politics
• Aubrey Chapin - Music - The Feminine Aspect of a Song Cycle
• Emily Troyer - Biology - What Makes Fish So Morphologically Diverse?  
• Gerry Ibay - Organization and Community Leadership - Strong and Bendy: Following the Rules and Bending the Rules
• Omar Yadak - Civil Engineering and Environmental Science - Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC): Evaluation of Column - Footing Connections for a New and Innovative Column Design
• Rachel Bennett - Industrial and Systems Engineering - Reduce and Refine: Learning to Predict a Piece at a Time
• Rin Ferraro - Sociology - With Our Own Eyes: Future Expectations among Teens in Oklahoma Group Homes
• Wendy Dedmond - Sociology - How Human Capital and Social Ties Shape Migration

Learn more about the 3MT competitions by visiting the OU Graduate College website.