StFX earth and environmental sciences master’s student Mackenzie LeVernois won both first place and the people’s choice award while M.Ed. student Leanne Whiting finished in second place as StFX hosted its first Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) event on March 19th. The internationally recognized competition for thesis-based graduate students sees participants present their scholarly and creative activity and its wider impact in three minutes or less.
The challenge is to present complex research in an accessible and compelling way with the assistance of one static slide.
As the winner of the StFX 3MT competition, Ms. LeVernois will advance to the 2024 Eastern Regional 3MT Competition, hosted by the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in Quebec City on June 7th.
Her presentation highlighted her research work, “Regional Methane Emissions: Not your Grandma’s secret recipe,” conducted under the supervision of Dr. Dave Risk.
Ms. Whiting, supervised by Dr. Dan Robinson, presented her research work around “Exploring Teachers' and Their Students' Experiences of a School-Based Yoga Program in the Elementary Classroom.”
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
“The 3MT competition is an opportunity for graduate students to showcase and develop confidence in their research communication skills,” says organizer, StFX human nutrition professor and Canada Research Chair, Dr. Marcia English.
Dr. English says the competition started in 2008 at the University of Queensland and is now held in many countries. Participating students are challenged to consolidate their ideas and explain their research discoveries to a general audience. Using a single slide students have three minutes to explain to a panel of judges how and why their research is important, innovative, and exciting. Learning to communicate research succinctly to a broad audience is an important academic skill that can be developed when students participate in the 3MT competition. The event also provides a unique and engaging platform to learn about the research that other graduate students at the university are involved in.
Essential to the success of the 3MT competition is the participation of presentation judges, Dr. Engilsh says. This year, four faculty members served as judges at the event: Dr. Melanie Lam, (Department of Human Kinetics); Dr. Brian MacLean (Chair, Department of Chemistry); Dr. Ornella Nzindukiyimana (Department of Human Kinetics); and Dr. Jessie McNichol (Department of Biology).
GREAT EXPERIENCE
StFX Associate Vice-President Research & Graduate Studies, Dr. Richard Isnor, says the inaugural competition was a resounding success.
“Our graduate students were fantastic, discussing such diverse topics in creative and engaging ways. This was a great experience for our students, but also for everyone who participated! All 10 presenters were very impressive."
Cash prizes were awarded for first ($250), second ($150), and the people’s choice ($100) award.
From here, the top two finalists from the Eastern Regional event in June will advance to the 2024 National 3MT Showcase to be held in Toronto, ON, on November 1, with the winner of this competition advancing to the North American 3MT Championship, to be held in St. Louis, MO in early December.
Active master’s and PhD candidates were eligible to participate in the event. Presentations had to be based on the primary research the student has conducted in their graduate program.
