This morning, the month of March started off with our last semi-final Three Minute Thesis Competition. The College of Architecture and Design, the College of Communication and Information, and the Haslam College of Business hosted this event, and the judges chose the finalists that complete our twelve that will compete on April 3 at 1:30 p.m. Congratulations Shade Adigun (College of Nursing), Andrew Putt (College of Arts and Sciences), and John Reynolds (Tickle College of Engineering)!

On February 28, the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences; the College of Law and the Herbert College of Agriculture hosted the third of our semi-final Three Minute Thesis competitions. After another round of extremely talented presentations, three participants will be continuing on to the final competition on April 3 at 1:30 p.m.: Nikhil Deb (College of Arts and Sciences), Amanda Lee (Herbert College of Agriculture), and Benjamin Meadows (Haslam College of Business). Congratulations to all of our participants; we appreciate all the work you have done for this competition. And congratulations to our finalists: we’ll see you in April!

Our 3MT semi-finalist competitors are certainly setting the bar high this year, and today’s presenters were no exception. After a long and difficult deliberation, our judges announced the three competitors that will be moving forward to the final competition on April 3. The three winners for today are Riley Krotz (Haslam College of Business), Scott Satinover (Bredesen Center), and Jamarcus Bradford (College of Law). Kudos to these winners, and congratulations to all the competitors. You folks are certainly making our judges work!

The first semi-final competition for the 2019 UT Three Minute Thesis took place on February 26 at 1:30 in Hollingsworth Auditorium. It’s no surprise that the competition was tough, and we once again got to see the high caliber of work being done by our graduate students. After lengthy deliberation, the judges let us know that the following will be moving on to the final competition on April 3:

• Arthur Jay Castaneda (College of Arts and Sciences)
• Caroline Billings (College of Veterinary Medicine)
• Rachael Wolters (College of Veterinary Medicine)

Congratulations to our finalists and to all of the competitors!

Nguyen Duc Diem Quynh (also known as Quynh Lam), a graduate student pursuing an MFA in Studio Art (Painting + Drawing) at the University of Tennessee, is one of 15 young and emerging artists selected for the 2019 Art Future Prize in Taiwan. Quynh was chosen for this honor from among artists in 48 countries in Asia. She was the only artist selected from Vietnam. In addition to the Art Future Prize, Quynh received the Special Jury Prize and an invitation to exhibit her work in Taipei this January. Read more about Quynh at the School of Art.

Jeffrey Pannekoek, a PhD student in philosophy, was chosen to represent UT as a predoctoral fellow at a summer workshop organized by Humanities Without Walls, an association of humanities centers at 15 major research universities throughout the United States. As a predoctoral fellow, Pannekoek will spend July 15 to August 2 in Chicago at a workshop to learn about alternative career opportunities for humanities PhD graduates outside academia. Read more about Pannekoek and the workshop at Tennessee Today.

Samuel Borstein, a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, is co-author on a recent study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. This study challenges current ways of thinking about evolution in relation to where a species is positioned on the food chain. Read more about the study in Tennessee Today.

Amber Giffin graduates today with a Master of Science in educational psychology. Her goal is to improve support for sexual assault survivors and help better educate campus communities about sexual assault prevention. Read more about her work at Tennessee Today.

Olivia Forehand, a graduate student in the School of Information Sciences, has studied how libraries can better serve poor and homeless people in their communities. Her research, conducted last spring for the course Diversity Leadership in Information Organizations, taught by Professor Bharat Mehra, will be published this month in the International Journal of Information, Diversity, and Inclusion. Read more about Forehand’s Research in Tennessee Today.

In the September 2018 Torchbearer, Lindsey Owen, a graduate student in the College of Communication and Information, recounts her experience working with UT’s Land Grant Films on a documentary about the 100 millionth book being given away by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Owen learned not only about filmmaking but also how the program changes lives. Read her article, 100 Million Stories in Torchbearer.