Kathleen Tierney, a graduate student in the Department of Agriculture, was selected as the winner of the College of Applied Science and Technology (CAST) Three Minute Thesis competition (3MT) on January 17.
The Three Minute Thesis Competition is a national academic competition that challenges master’s and doctoral students to describe their research to a general audience within three minutes.
The competition seeks to enhance the academic, presentation, and research communication skills of participants.
It also encourages students to consolidate their ideas, crystallize their research discoveries, and effectively explain their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
This year’s participants were:
- Kathleen Tierney (AGR): Exploring the Effects of Weaning on Beef Calves. Thesis chairperson: Dr. Drew Lugar.
- Diego Soto (KNR): The Effects of a 12-week Comprehensive Exercise Program on Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia: An Experimental Case Study. Thesis chairperson: Dr. Samantha McDonald.
- Marley Knowles (AGR): Utilization of Golden Pennycress Meal in Poultry Diets. Thesis chairperson: Dr. Nicholas Heller.
- Md Mahadi Hasan (AGR): Impact of Cover Crops on Death Zone at Gulf of Mexico. Thesis chairperson: Dr. Rob Rhykerd.
- Keion Mackey (AGR): Can Winter Cover Crops Help Mitigate Climate Change? Thesis chairpersons: Dr. Rob Rhykerd and Dr. Nicholas Heller.
- Tuba Yasmin Lubna (AGR): Converting Cover Crop Biomass to Biogas and Volatile Fatty Acids. Thesis Chairperson: Dr. LC Yang.
The Executive Associate Dean for the College of Applied Science and Technology Dr. Cara Rabe-Hemp thanked the research mentors and thesis chairpersons for their support and congratulated this year’s participants for their innovation.
“We are very proud of our CAST 3MT participants. Each presented their research in a dynamic and innovative way—and in three minutes—informing the audience on topics ranging from weaning beef calves, cover crop uses and outcomes, to exercise program effectiveness,” she said.
Tuba Yasmin Lubna, 3MT runner-up from the Department of Agriculture, will join Tierney to represent CAST at the university-level competition.
Rabe-Hemp further highlighted the role that the competition plays in preparing scholars for their future careers and urged the ISU community to show up and support the finalists at the university-level competition.
“The ability of the students to share their complex research in a clear, compelling narrative, will serve them well in their future professions and also expands our understanding and recognition of the amazing research being conducted in CAST,” she said. “Please join us at the Normal Theater and support our CAST 3MT finalists!”
The annual Illinois State University 3MT competition will be held on Thursday, February 27, 2025, at 6 p.m. at the Normal Theater in Uptown Normal. Finalists will compete for cash prizes, and the first-place winner will move on to compete in the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) competition.
More information about the competition can be found at the Three Minute Thesis website.
