The Graduate School is delighted to announce the winners of the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition – the highlight of the Grad School’s year. On April 10, there was standing-room-only in the Wells Fargo Auditorium, to watch the nail-biting final round, with eight master’s and eight doctoral students vying for the big prize.

Having narrowed the field from the original 50 competitors to the final 16, the Graduate School Dean and staff worked with the finalists to hone and polish their presentations. Each student was given just 3 minutes and one slide to articulate the complex concepts and ideas of their research into clear, concise and accessible presentations. Many disciplines were represented, and competitors were charged with making their specialist subjects accessible to the wider audience – especially the esteemed judges. Not an easy task! But everyone brought their A-game, and the competition was fierce. Demonstrating poise, professionalism, and mastery of their subjects, every finalist did an amazing job.   

The Graduate School has hosted the 3MT competition since 2015. We welcome this wonderful (and lucrative) opportunity for graduate students to share their research with the community. The University of Nevada, Reno, recently gained national 3MT recognition, when our  2023 winner, Kendra Isable, a doctoral candidate in the Anthropology program, earned second place at the regional 3MT competition in and was named the People’s Choice Winner (first place) at the national 3MT showcase during the 2024 Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) annual conference. Isable joins the ranks of other University of Nevada, Reno scholars who also found regional success. Their journeys highlight the outstanding research and scholarship taking place among graduate students at this university.

The Graduate School would like to thank the distinguished panel of judges: University President Brian Sandoval, First Lady Lauralyn Sandoval, Desert Research Institute President Kumud Acharya, Claudia Aguayo, Demetris Paraskevopoulos, Provost Jeff Thompson, Andrew Clinger, Carol Del Carlo, Paul Hauptman and Tracy Ostrem.

Please join us in congratulating the innovation, creativity and intellectual prowess demonstrated by all this year’s competitors. Without further ado, we present the winners of the University of Nevada, Reno, 2025 3-Minute Thesis Awards:

Master’s category winners:

• First Place ($1,500)
  • Nura Tung
    • Civil & Environmental Engineering
    • “The MOB hits Reno…’s Water Treatment Systems”
  • Second Place ($900)
    • Faven Stoner
      • Criminal Justice
      • “Classrooms to Courtrooms: The Impact of School Quality and Location on the School to Prison Pipeline”
    • Third Place ($600)
      • Hannah Potts
        • Geography
        • “Drone-Based Bioacoustics Monitoring for Mohave Ground Squirrel”

Doctoral category winners:

• First Place ($1,500)
  • Jerry Howard
    • Chemical & Materials Engineering
    • “3D Printing of Metallic Glasses for Extreme Environments”
  • Second Place ($900)
    • Nicole Tomitz
      • Speech Pathology
      • “Reference Values for Swallowing Kinematics in Older Adults”
    • Third Place ($600)
      • Joshua Chukwu
        • Chemistry 
        • “The Wonders of Small Molecules: From Functionalized Cyclopenetenone to Highly Valuable Material”

People’s Choice Award(s):

• Faven Stoner
  • Criminal Justice
  • “Classrooms to Courtrooms: The Impact of School Quality and Location on the School to Prison Pipeline”
• C Mccombs
  • History and Gender, Race & Identity
  • “The Biggest Little Queer Utopian Project: Stonewall Park and the Reno Queer Culture 1983-1987”

Not to forget the other finalists, who also gave impressive presentations of their important research, and each received $400.  

• Ria Anand 
• Monika Bharti
• Munachimso Emesobum
• Chalyss Evans
• Staphenie Ezeonye 
• Nadini Haththotuwe Gamage
• Shipra Goswami
• Elizabeth Morgan
• Ann Newman