Fifteen participants in the Vice President for Research 3 Minute Challenge were selected to become the next VPR Graduate Student Fellows. Each winner receives $4,000 in scholarship and travel support. Fellows will also participate in professional development workshops, mentorship, leadership and engagement opportunities over the 2019-20 academic year.

On Feb. 11, 39 graduate students vied for fellowships as they explained their research in three minutes for a panel of judges.

As students quickly summarized their research, judges scored in the content and comprehension of the presentations, as well as students’ effective engagement and communication skills.

2019-20 VPR Fellows:

• Kaytee Ankrom, Biology
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Global Worming”
• Heather Deel, Cell and Molecular Biology
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Solving Crimes with Microbes”
• Kimberly Dolphin, Biology
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Why Can’t He Take A Hint! The Evolution and Mechanisms of Male Guppy Mating Strategies”
• Magda Garbowski, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Do Differences Make All the Difference? Targeting Functional Trait and Genetic Variability for Ecological Restoration”
• Gretchen Kroh, Biology
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Building Better Crops: Tackling Iron Deficiency in Plants”
• Blaine McCarthy, Chemistry
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Growing Green Plastics Using the Sun”
• Afnan Shazwan Nasaruddin, Bioagricultural Science and Pest Management
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “The Chemical Radar: Bacterial Chemotaxis”
• Michael Nguyen-Truong, Biomedical Engineering
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Preparing Stem-Cells in their Fight Against Heart Failure: What is their Ideal Niche?”
• Peter Olayemi, Soil and Crop Sciences
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Lactobionate: A Soil Health Genie?”
• MJ Riches, Chemistry
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “A Plant’s Role at the Crossroads of Climate Change”
• Evan Sproul, Mechanical Engineering
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Engineering a Solution to the Greenhouse Gas Problem”
• Ray Sumner, Anthropology
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “The Days After Colorado’s Darkest Day”
• Clayton Swanson, Health and Exercise Sciences
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Turning on Your Brain: Age Matters”
• Robert Wimbish, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “Attachment Issues: Uncovering the Molecular Basis for Chromosome Movement in Cells”
• Scott Wrigley, Food Science and Human Nutrition
  • 3 Minute Challenge Presentation “The Gut Microbiome: The Missing Link”