“One person dies every 33 seconds from heart disease in the United States,” said Scott Wrigley as he began his three-minute talk at the Colorado Council of Graduate Schools 3-Minute Talk (3MT) Competition. “High blood pressure is the number one risk factor in heart disease,” he continued. But then, unexpectedly, he asks if gut microbiota could cause heart disease.
Wrigley is a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition in the College of Health and Human Sciences. In his labs, the Intestinal Health Lab and the Integrative Cardiovascular Physiology Lab, researchers study how the microbes that live in our gut impact heart disease.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide and rates of this disease continue to rise (World Health Organization). Wrigley has personally experienced loss from heart disease, which runs in his family. He is on a mission to identify how gut microbes contribute to this disease, and then potentially identify ways to reverse or prevent it.
But explaining the connection between gut microbes and heart disease in less than three minutes to people from outside the scientific community is certainly a challenge – and one that Wrigley is willing to take on.
The CSU 3MT is held annually in February and hosted by the Graduate School with sponsorship from the Office of the Vice President for Research. The 3MT Competition began in Queensland, Australia in 2008. Today, approximately 900 campuses in 85 countries hold a 3MT competition each year. To compete, presenters must tell a story about research, which has taken hundreds or even thousands of hours to compile, in only three minutes.
“The competition allows researchers to practice being concise and clear storytellers to a non-technical audience,” said Kristina Quynn, Ph.D., organizer of CSU’s 3MT competition and assistant dean of the Graduate School and the director of CSU Writes. “Preparing and presenting a three-minute talk helps researchers develop practical communication skills by forcing them to get directly to the ‘so what’ point of their studies. They also learn how to engage their audience, another essential skill for students seeking to help journalists, policymakers, CEOs and even family members understand the importance of the research they do at CSU.”
Wrigley placed first in the CSU’s 3MT Challenge and third in the statewide competition for his presentation “Preventing Heart Disease: Is the Answer in Our Gut?”
He learned of the competition when he received an award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship at CSU’s 2024 Graduate Student Showcase. All 59 award-winners from the Graduate Student Showcase were invited to participate in a two-month communication training for the opportunity to compete in the CSU 3MT. From this group, around two dozen students worked in cohorts with guidance from Quynn to improve one another’s presentations. At the end of the process, cohorts nominated those who would move forward to the competition. Eleven graduate students presented at CSU’s 3MT.
Wrigley believes it’s critical that scientists learn how to communicate their research with people outside of their field. He explains, “Anyone on the internet can just present scientific information. It’s easier to be hyperbolic and spread misinformation than it is to correct that information; and social media often lacks nuance. We need to get better at sharing our research in a way that’s not only understandable, but that intrigues people.”
Graduate students hoping to improve their communication skills – whether in scientific research, entrepreneurial ventures, or creative endeavors – are encouraged to submit abstracts to present at the Graduate Student Showcase. The call for abstracts opens on Aug. 26, and the GradShow will be held at the Lory Student Center on Nov. 20. Award recipients will be invited to participate in next year’s CSU 3MT competition.
3MT Competition presenters
Emmanuel Ezika
Master’s student, Chemical and Biological Engineering
Sarah Hernandez
Ph.D. student, Systems Engineering
Kyler Howard
Ph.D. candidate, Bioengineering
Justin Hudson
Ph.D. candidate, Atmospheric Science
Suraj Khanal
Ph.D. candidate, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Diana Lowe
Ph.D. candidate, Cell and Molecular Biology
Ghyslaine Ramirez
Ph.D. candidate, Biomedical Sciences
Erin Snyder
Ph.D. candidate, Chemistry
Chris Stubbs
Ph.D. candidate, Chemistry
Cassandre Venumière-Lefebvre
Ph.D. candidate, Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology
Scott Wrigley
Ph.D. candidate, Food Science and Human Nutrition
