“It is my great pleasure to announce the winners of the 3MT@Nevada competition that concluded with the finals on April 18,” David Zeh, dean of the Graduate School, said in a note to campus. “The presentations by all students were outstanding.“ 

The students have three minutes to present their doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis using only one static presentation slide. A panel of judges evaluates the presentations based on two categories of criteria: comprehension and content; and engagement and communication.

The sixth annual 3MT saw 16 graduate students compete. Preliminary competition rounds were held in March. The finalists included eight in the doctoral competition and eight in the master's competition. 

Cash awards for 3MT@NEVADA winners in both the Doctoral Dissertation and Master’s Thesis categories are $300 for advancing to the final round and another $1,000 for a first-place finish in the finals for a total award of $1,300. 

In the Doctoral Dissertation Category, the winners are:

1.   Rosie Shrout, Graduate Program: Social Psychology, Title: What’s Mine is Yours, and What’s Yours is Mine: How Couples Cope with Chronic Illness, Advisor: Dr. Daniel Weigel

2.   Emily Wood, Graduate Program: Social Psychology, Title: Stigma Toward People Addicted to Opioids: The Intersection of Race, Social Class, and Gender. Advisor: Dr. Marta Elliott

3.   Mehdi Rahimi, Graduate Program: Electrical and Biomedical Engineering, Title: Dip Your Finger in a Bowl of Science. Advisor: Dr. Yantao Shen

In the Master’s Thesis Category, the winners are:

1.   Jamey Wilcher, Graduate Program: Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Title: All That is Gold Does Not Glitter: Crosby's Buckwheat, Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Leger

2.   Lauran Evans, Graduate Program: Public Health, Title: Mandate Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination?, Advisor: Dr. Lyndsey Darrow

3.   Haley Moniz, Graduate Program: Biology, Title: Jack of All Trades, or Master of One?, Advisor: Dr. Chris Feldman 

Graduate student Lauran Evans also won the Patricia Berninsone People’s Choice Award. 

The top three 3MT finalists will now compete in the Southwest Showdown 3-Minute Grad Slam on Saturday, April 27 in the Wells Fargo Auditorium in the Knowledge Center. The top three are Lauren Evans, Rosie Shrout and Jamie Wilcher. 

The Southwest Showdown is a competition between the University of Nevada, Reno, University of Northern Arizona and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

The top three 3MT award recipients from each institution will compete for the following prizes: first place, $3,000; second place, $2,000; third place, $1,000; and People’s Choice, $500. 

The Southwest Showdown begins at 2:30 p.m. with an opening reception the competition starting at 3 p.m. and at 4 p.m. is the post-event career/networking reception for graduate students with industry partners. The Graduate School and GSA are collaborating with the College of Business and the Office of Research and Innovation to invite approximately 10 companies, including Charles River and Tesla, Inc. 

Please use the following link to RSVP for the Southwest Showdown: https://nevada.formstack.com/forms/southwest_showdown_2019_rsvp.