USM’s Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®) Features Outstanding Students

Tue, 11/14/2023 - 08:44am | By: Van Arnold

Meagan Stanley, a doctoral candidate in chemistry, captured the Grand Champion award during The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®) held Nov. 9-10 at the Hattiesburg campus.

Stanley, a native of Florence, Miss., won $1,000 for her entry: “Using Inclusion Chemistry to Develop Molecular Probes for Metal Ion Detection.

The runner-up award and $750 cash prize went to Lindsey Ostermiller, a doctoral candidate in psychology (counseling). for her entry: “Lifestyle Behaviors and Mental Health Outcomes in LGBTQ+ Graduate Students. Ostermiller is a native of Tremonton, Utah.

Nick Enos, a doctoral candidate in polymer science and engineering, took home the People’s Choice Award for his entry: “Atoms to Aircraft: Controlling Crystallization in High Performance Composites.” Enos is a native of Sharpsville, Pa.

“The Three Minute Thesis Competition is the premier fall event of the Graduate School, and this year's event was particularly special because it was the 10^th time the competition has been held at USM,” said Dr. Katie Anthony, Interim Dean of USM’s Graduate School. “We were thrilled to have many excellent students representing their graduate programs and our institution so well.”

More than 40 USM graduate students competed in this year’s event. As part of the competition, participants are required to explain their thesis or dissertation in a three-minute presentation; effectively communicating the complexity of their topic and research to a non-academic audience.

Other finalists in the competition included:

• Annemarie Fearing, a biological sciences doctoral candidate, with the entry, “From Curiosities to Conservation: Using Old Saws to Conserve Largetooth Sawfish.”
• Michael Oeth, a biological sciences doctoral candidate, with the entry, “Crisis in the Hive: Investigating Mortality-related Immune System Suppression in Apis mellifera (European Honeybees) Caused by Biotic and Abiotic Stressors.”
• Thomas Owens, a chemistry doctoral candidate, with the entry, “The Malonate Template: The Key to Unlocking Novel Amino Acids.”
• Holly Love, an anthropology master’s candidate, with the entry, “Attraction Spectrum: Comparing Non-heterosexual and Heterosexual Mate Preferences.”
• Miranda Noland, an anthropology master’s candidate, with the entry, “Fight at the Museum: WWII Narratives in the United States and Japan.”
• Abigail Lawson, a psychology (school psychology) doctoral candidate, with the entry, “Positive Greetings at the Door.”

“We are so proud of all of our 3MT competitors, and we look forward to cheering on Meagan Stanley, our 3MT Grand Champion, as she competes at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools in March 2024 against the winners from other institutions across the southeast,” said Anthony. 

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia.