Citizen Science wins 3MT Competition

23 October 2013

Citizen Science wins 3MT Competition

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(Front) University of Waikato Three Minute Thesis (3MT) winner and People’s Choice Award winner Monica Peters, and runner-up Damon Whitten with judges Emeritus Professor Ian Graham, University Council member Jan Jameson and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Alister Jones.

From 33 contestants to 10 finalists, the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final saw the field whittled down even further as PhD students battled it out on stage to take away first prize.

Finalists had three minutes and a static Power Point slide in which to explain their thesis to three judges and a full-house on Tuesday 22 October at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts.

Subjects such as rotting leaf litter, a guy who hates maths, and banjo playing at farmers’ markets all made for an interesting and informative evening that was stitched together seamlessly by comedian Michele A’Court.

Michele described PhD students presenting their theses in three minutes as “brainy people talking very fast” to an “intelligent but non-specialist audience”.

The finalists suppressed any public-speaking nerves and took to the stage with their well-prepared and articulate presentations. But in the end there could only be one winner, and that was Monica Peters from the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

Monica took away a cheque for $3000 and has secured a spot in the Trans-Tasman 3MT next year in Perth. Monica also won the People’s Choice Award, based on audience votes, of $500.

Monica’s presentation was entitled “Collaborating with Community: Harnessing the Power of Citizen Science”. Her research is into community groups throughout New Zealand that are restoring degraded landscapes. She is exploring whether their ‘citizen science’ monitoring data can be integrated with ‘professional science’ data to build a more complete picture of environmental health?

“It was great fun and it took a lot of practise,” says Monica of the 3MT final. “I didn’t go into it with the expectation of winning, just for the experience and to improve my public speaking. It was a great opportunity and well worth throwing my hat in the ring.”

Monica says she will spend her winnings on travel related to her work, aiming to visit the US next year to continue her research.

The runner-up prize of $1,500 went to Damon Whitten from the Faculty of Education with his presentation “Understanding and Enhancing Adult Learners’ Beliefs about Mathematics”.

Zingaresca Duo, made up of third-year music students violinist Ngaruaroha Martin and cellist Charlotte Ketel, also performed during the evening.

3MT, sponsored by Prior Blackburn, is the highlight of the University’s Postgraduate Month in October. The event showcases research being carried out by the University’s PhD students. Presentations were judged on comprehension, engagement and communication by judges Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Alister Jones, University Council member Jan Jameson and Emeritus Professor Ian Graham.

ENDS

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