The winners of Grad Slam Round Nine, who will advance to the Semifinals, are Samantha Davis of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology; and Michael Zakrewsky of Chemical Engineering. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Judges for Round Nine were, from left, Chuck Bazerman, Laura Lambert, and Ben Zhao. Credit: Patricia MarroquinFriday, April 11, 11 a.m. to noon, Student Resource Building Multipurpose Room.

Here is what you may have missed at the seventh round of the Grad Slam. 

Overview

The Glad Slam features three-minute presentations of student research. 

The top two presenters from the preliminary round advance to the Semifinal round (and the top four receive $50 gift cards for the UCSB bookstore).

Hala’s Picks

Bren student Eric Edwards used a soda bottle with three straws in it to demonstrate open access. Credit: Patricia MarroquinMost Calm: Samantha Davis 

Best Use of Props: Eric Edwards

Best Dance Moves: Daniel Ervin

Best Shoes and Socks: Brian J. Griffith

Best Use of Coconut Oil: Michael Zakrewsky

Fastest: Michael Zakrewsky (2:48)

Best Personal Story: Michele N. Zugnoni

Judges’ Picks

Samantha Davis  (advances to Semifinal round)

Michael Zakrewsky  (advances to Semifinal round)

Daniel Ervin

Eric Edwards

Presentation Summaries

Samantha Davis focused on disappearing coral reefs. Credit: Patricia MarroquinCoral Reef Recovery...or Not?, Samantha Davis, Ecology, and Marine Biology

Samantha discussed how coral reefs are disappearing due to a variety of threats and disturbances, such as tropical storms, thermal bleaching, and coral-eating predators. Samantha pointed out that by 2030, 60% of coral reefs will be lost, and that future generations would not have a chance to see these beautiful ocean coral reefs. Coral reefs can be recovered, but recently, the speed of recovery has been slow. Samantha explained that reefs are lacking resilience, which is the "ability to resist change and recover from disturbance." Specifically, reefs have lost resilience due to macro-algaes taking up space in the ocean. Currently, only a few fish eat these macro algaes, but due to overfishing of these fish, balancing the ecosystem is at risk. In her research, Samantha examines the reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia to find out the critical processes that determine whether a coral reef will be able to recover after a disturbance.

Economic Incentives in Collective Groundwater Management, Eric Edwards, Bren

Eric's research focuses on how to reduce the overexploitation of openly accessed groundwater through more effective management at the institutional level. He discussed the economics of groundwater, and how the availability of groundwater, which is used as a resource for irrigation and drinking, could be at risk. With changing precipitation patterns due to climate change, Eric calls for protection of this valuable resource. Moreover, his research in Kansas, which involves a heterogeneous aquifer and has faster water movement, has showed positive signs of effective management.Daniel Ervin of Geography did a little dance during his three-minute talk. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Cheeseburgers, Central Americans, and Carbon 12: One New Technique for Two Old Problems, Daniel Ervin, Geography

Daniel presented his dissertation project on using Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis (SIRA), a geological technique, to help track people's daily diets. His target population is Latino immigrants in California, and he plans to conduct surveys about their health, diet, exercise, etc. Further, by using SIRA, he plans to count the carbon-12 intake (e.g., corn and sugar cane) and nitrogen-15 (e.g., animal products). His research aims to provide an alternative way to measure people's diet to help maintain a healthy body and lifestyle. 

Bringing Bacchus to the People: Viti-Viniculture, Autarky, and Mass Spectacle in Fascist Italy, 1922 - 1945, Brian J. Griffith, History

Brian's research is about examining the roles played by Italy's table grape- anBrian Griffith spoke about his research into the table grape and wine production industries from the 1920s to 1940s. Credit: Patricia Marroquind wine-production industries within Italian Fascism's efforts. These efforts were made to develop a widespread sense of national belonging in both Italy and its colonies, and to establish a synchronized community of consumption under the auspices of the Fascist state. Brian hypothesizes that by promoting Italy's enological heritage through its various programs and popular outreaches, such as the National Festival of the Grape, Italians will be encouraged to consume domestic Italian grapes and wines, as well as strengthen and solidify their ethnic and regional identities, traditions, and cultures.

New Arsenal of Materials for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacterial Infections, Michael Zakrewsky, Chemical Engineering

Michael presented a new alternative solution to treating bacterial infections, such as chronic wounds and acnes. He discussed how bacterias can form tumors in human bodies, and how current treatment using antibiotics have been questioned due to many side effects. His research explores the use of table salt (sodium chloride), Vitamin B, and coconut oil, as an alternative way to treat bacterial infection, starting at the skin level, which he claims as more effectiv

Michele Zugnoni told the audience that creativity saved her. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

e than many chemicals. He is hopeful that in a few years, this alternative method will be open to the market, delivering a safer way to treat bacteria.

Levels of Alienation: Assessing the Effects of a Creative Writing Program on a Population of Incarcerated Adolescent Boys, Michele N. Zugnoni, Education

Michele shared about how creative writing and self-reflection can help empower many incarcerated adolescent boys, who feel alienated from society. Her project seeks to understand the level of alienation of 20 adolescent males and to promote "healing" by adapting a self-reflective writing program, which involves poetry, essay, song, and short story writing tasks. Michele hopes to increase knowledge of the influence of creativity on the perceptions of alienation among adolescents labeled “delinquent.”

For information on other events, visit the Graduate Student Showcase 2014 page.

Previous Grad Slam 2014 coverage

Grad Slam Round One Recap: Topics Range From Hearts to Handprints, Liberia to Light

Grad Slam Round Two Recap: Music and Poetry and Yoga, Oh My :-)

Grad Slam Round Three Recap: Clapping, Compost, Kids' Music, and More

Grad Slam Round Four Recap: Everyone's a Winner

Grad Slam Round Five Recap: Sex, Drugs, and Lasers

Grad Slam Round Six Recap: Writing, Repatriation, the Rural Midwest, and More

Grad Slam Round Seven Recap: Fog, Flow, Fathers, and More

Grad Slam Round Eight Recap: Speakers Take Audience Into a Cloud, Under Water, Across West Africa

While the judges deliberated, Round Nine competitors answered questions not only from the audience members, but also from one another. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Winners of Grad Slam Round Ten, who will advance to the Semifinals, are, from left, David Jacobson of Physics and Dayton Horvath of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Friday, April 11, 3 to 4 p.m., Elings 1605

Graduate Division Associate Dean Karen Myers helps the judges get settled in. They are, from left, Lisa Sedgwick, Hsiu-Zu Ho, and Kathy Foltz. Credit: Patricia MarroquinHere is what you missed at Round 10 of the Grad Slam.

Overview

The Grad Slam features three-minute presentations of student research. 

The top two presenters from the preliminary round advance to the Semifinal round. And the top four receive $50 gift cards for the UCSB bookstore. In this case, all five competitors received gift cards. 

Ryan’s Picks

Best Use of Grumpy Cat: Arturo Deza

Best Soundtrack: Emily Ellis

Best Reference to a Drag Racing Prius Since That Jason Bateman Movie: Dayton Horvath

Arturo Deza said Grumpy Cat has more virality than Peter Higgs. Credit Patricia MarroquinMost Successful Attempt to Raise My Suspicions About the Human Genome Project: David Jacobson

Best Recovery from a Malfunctioning Video Slide: Travis Seifman

Shortest Talk: Arturo Deza (2:48) 

Judges' Picks

David Jacobson (Advances to Semifinal round)

Dayton Horvath (Advances to Semifinal round)

Travis Seifman

Emily Ellis

Arturo Deza

Presentation Summaries

 
What Makes Grumpy Cat More Popular Than the Higgs Boson?  Arturo Deza, Dynamical Neuroscience

Emily Ellis talked about how some male Ostracods create flashy displays to attract females. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThis presentation explored how, from the perspective of visual psychology and computer vision, viral content on the Internet can be predicted. Arturo likes the idea of immortalizing an idea with an equation, and he wants to do that for the issue of virality, a relative property that addresses how ideas diffuse themselves around the world. By combining computer vision (a low-level data collection method) with visual psychology (a higher-level collection method), Arturo is able to determine with some confidence the relative attributes that lead to virality.

The Evolution of the Flashy Male Display in Ostracoda, Emily Ellis, Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology

Certain male Ostracods create flashy displays to attract females, not unlike human males who use Axe body spray, with the exception that the male Ostracods don’t lose friends in the process. Emily is attempting to create a phylogenetic tree of signaling and nonsignalling species to show how this has evolved. Ostracods produce light to protect themselves with predators (predators get suspicious about glowing food) and a small subset of them also produces it for mating purposes. By examining patterns of mating displays and tracing their origins, Emily hopes to identify the evolutionary roots of these displays.

Don’t Stop the Solar Fuels Party, Dayton Horvath, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Life, according to Dayton, is one big party. Energy resources keep this party rolling, and our best source of energy is the sun. Unfortunately, the variation in daily power demands makes capturing and using the energy of the sun rather inefficient for human purposes. Dayton is looking for renewable, low-cost power through solar energy. Using the model of chemical bonds involved in photosynthesis, he wonders if this can be done on a larger scale. This may be the key to sustainable energy in the future. 

Genetic Regulation: What the Human Genome Project Didn’t Tell Us, David Jacobson, Physics

Travis Seifman discussed street processions as political goodwill gestures. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe Human Genome Project, according to David, has not unlocked the full story of our complexity as organisms. Only about 2% of the gene codes for proteins, so what does the rest of this non-coding DNA do? It may be serving as a vast regulatory machinery for when to enact the 22,000 genes that we have. David is exploring this through his focus on specially structured RNAs called ribostructures. If we want to get a really detailed understanding of how life emerges, we need to understand these regulatory mechanisms and how they contribute to the web of interactions that make life happen.

Performing Ryukyu: Early Modern Street Processions as Political Acts, Travis Seifman, History

This presentation explored street processions as performed by embassies from the Ryukyu Kingdom in the 17th to 19th centuries. It has become standard practice for new ambassadors to a country to be treated to a political goodwill gesture, such as travel in a limo or a horse-drawn carriage. But Travis argues that these gestures are more than they appear, that they are not just for show but a powerful political act. Using the traveling representatives of the Ryukyu Kingdom of the 1870s as an example, Travis shows that these processions can convey powerful political meanings such as prestige, respect, and indications of a nation’s modernity. 

For information on other events, visit the Graduate Student Showcase 2014 page.

Previous Grad Slam 2014 coverage

Grad Slam Round One Recap: Topics Range From Hearts to Handprints, Liberia to Light

Grad Slam Round Two Recap: Music and Poetry and Yoga, Oh My :-)

Grad Slam Round Three Recap: Clapping, Compost, Kids' Music, and More

Grad Slam Round Four Recap: Everyone's a Winner

Grad Slam Round Five Recap: Sex, Drugs, and Lasers

Grad Slam Round Six Recap: Writing, Repatriation, the Rural Midwest, and More

Grad Slam Round Seven Recap: Fog, Flow, Fathers, and More

Grad Slam Round Eight Recap: Speakers Take Audience Into a Cloud, Under Water, Across West Africa

Grad Slam Round Nine Recap: Maintaining Health, Drinking Wine, Treating Acne, and More

Round Ten competitors listen to a question from the audience. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

2014 Grad Slam "April Awesomeness" Bracket: Who Will Advance?

While basketball has “March Madness,” the UCSB Graduate Division has “April Awesomeness,” (also known as the Graduate Student Showcase). For two weeks of April, graduate students from a variety of disciplines show off their incredible research, expertise, projects, and performances. One of the capstone events of the Graduate Student Showcase is the Grad Slam.

Last week, 64 students gave a combined total of 192 minutes of presentations (give or take a few minutes for students who went under or over the 3-minute time limit) during the 10 preliminary Grad Slam rounds. Their talks covered a broad range of topics, including: understanding the brain, developing alternative energy sources, documenting and saving dying languages, understanding culture and identity, improving teaching and learning, exploring online communication, curing diseases, designing new technologies to provide better healthcare, examining the power of music on socialization, and using reading as a tool for emotional growth. To read more about each of the 10 Grad Slam preliminary rounds, visit: http://gradpost.ucsb.edu/grad-slam-recaps-2014

This week, the Grad Slam continues with two Semifinal Rounds:

Semifinal Round 1: Tuesday, April 15, 4 - 5 p.m., Student Resource Building Multipurpose Room

Semifinal Round 2: Wednesday, April 16, 11 a.m. - noon, ESB 1001

Here are the list of semifinalists and their presentation titles:

Semifinal Round 1

• Philip Deslippe, Religious Studies, "How Pizza Explains Yoga"
• Deborah Barany, Dynamical Neuroscience, "The Brain in Action" 
• Samantha Davis, Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, "Why are Coral Reefs Disappearing?"
• Logan Fiorella, Psychological & Brain Sciences, "Is Teaching Really the Best Way to Learn?"
• Haddy Kreie, Theater & Dance, "Celebrating Mourning: Memorializations of Vodun and Slavery in West Africa"
• Damien Kudela, Chemistry, "A Safe and Effective Nanotherapeutic to Control the Coagulation Cascade During Trauma"
• Leah Kuritzky, Materials, "The Promise of Laser Lighting"
• David Jacobson, Physics, "Genetic Regulation: What the Human Genome Project Didn’t Tell Us"
• Michelle Oyewole, Geography, "Too Much of a Good Thing? Effect of Compost Application on Greenhouse Gas Emissions"
• Dibella Wdzenczny, Linguistics, "Capturing Tongues in the Tundra"

Semifinal Round 2:

• James G. Allen, Marine Science, "Measuring Cells from Space: Remote Sensing of Phytoplankton Size Distribution"
• Aubrie Adams, Communication, "Student Perceptions of Teacher :) Emoticon Usage"
• Matt Cieslak, Psychological and Brain Sciences, "Searching the Brain for Missing Parts"
• Don Daniels, Linguistics, "Reconstructing Proto-Sogeram"
• Nate Emery, Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, "I Have the Foggiest Idea"
• Audrey Harkness, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, "Having 'The Talk': The Importance of Parent-Child Communication about Sexual Orientation in the Development of Youth Sexual Orientation Attitudes and Behaviors"
• Dayton Horvath, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, "Don’t Stop the Solar Fuels Party"
• Alexander Pucher, Computer Science, "Solon: Democratizing the Cloud"
• Carly Thomsen, Feminist Studies, "Re-thinking Gay Rights Strategies: Perspectives from LGBTQ Women in the Rural Midwest"
• Mira Rai Waits, History of Art and Architecture, "Mapping the Finger: The Colonial History of Biometrics"
• Michael Zakrewsky, Chemical Engineering, "New Arsenal of Materials for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacterial Infections"

The top five presenters from each round will advance to the Grad Slam Final Round on Friday, April 18, at 3 p.m. in Corwin Pavilion and compete for a $2,500 grand prize. Stay tuned for an updated Grad Slam "April Awesomeness" bracket and more information about the Grad Slam Final Round.

California state Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson will be a special guest judge on Friday at the Grad Slam Finals.California State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson will be a special guest judge for UCSB Graduate Division’s Grad Slam Finals on Friday afternoon at Corwin Pavilion, it was confirmed on Monday. The public is invited to attend.  

The Grad Slam is part of the 2nd annual Graduate Student Showcase, a two-week series of events that celebrates UC Santa Barbara’s exceptional graduate students. The events range from performances, presentations, and poster sessions to tours, exhibitions, and open houses – all of which highlight the work of the university’s graduate students.

The Showcase’s signature event is the national award-winning Grad Slam, a campus-wide competition for the best three-minute talk about research or other big ideas by a graduate student.

With the advent of TedX, the three-minute talk is rapidly catching on as an ideal format for the communication of graduate research to a general audience. Longer than an elevator talk, but shorter than a conference presentation, in three minutes students must encapsulate the central points of their research and convey them in a clear, direct, and interesting manner. Students gain experience constructing a tight professional presentation and delivering it with confidence.  They also have the opportunity to practice sharing their ideas with a wider audience, an important professional skill for communicating with employers, granting agencies, investors, CEOs, reporters, policymakers, and others.

In its inaugural year last year, the UCSB Grad Slam was honored with the 2013 Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) and Educational Testing Service (ETS) Award for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education. This year, UC San Diego adopted UCSB’s idea, initiating its own Grad Slam competition.

Nearly 70 grad students competed in 10 preliminary Grad Slam rounds held last week at UC Santa Barbara. The student presenters came from nearly 40 disciplines across the campus, ranging from Music to Materials; Physics to Film and Media Studies; Communication to Computer Science; and Sociology to Spanish and Portuguese. The talks were entertaining, informative, enlightening, and impressive. Some of the more amusing titles: "Let Them Eat Ketchup" (History); "Kidney Punch" (Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology); "How Pizza Explains Yoga" (Religious Studies); "I Have the Foggiest Idea" (Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology); and "What Makes Grumpy Cat More Popular Than the Higgs Boson?"  (Dynamical Neuroscience).

After two semifinal rounds this week, 10 students will advance to the Finals on Friday.

“The Grad Slam Final Round is the cream of the crop,” said UCSB Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti, “a window into the groundbreaking research of our very best students, presented in a fun, accessible, and exciting way.” The Grad Slam grand prize winner will receive a $2,500 research award; and two runners-up will receive $1,000 each.

In addition to Senator Jackson, who represents state Senate District 19 (Santa Barbara County and a portion of Ventura County), other judges for the Finals are: Denise Stephens, University Librarian; Michael Witherell, Vice Chancellor for Research; Sarah Cline, Professor Emerita of History; John Weimann, Professor Emeritus of Communication; and Gene Lucas, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and former Executive Vice Chancellor.

The public is invited to attend both the two Semifinal Grad Slam rounds and the Grad Slam Finals. The Semifinals are on Tuesday, April 15, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Student Resource Building (SRB) Multipurpose Room and Wednesday, April 16, from 11 a.m. to noon in Engineering Science Building (ESB) 1001.

The Grad Slam Finals will be held on Friday, April 18, from 3 to 4 p.m. in Corwin Pavilion, and will be followed by the Graduate Student Showcase Reception in Friendship Court outside the pavilion.

A complete schedule of events is posted on the Graduate Post’s Graduate Student Showcase page. Read   recaps of the preliminary rounds on the GradPost. For more information, contact Robert Hamm, Coordinator of Graduate Student Professional Development, at 805-893-2671 or Robert.Hamm@graddiv.ucsb.edu.

About 200 grad students attended the Library Wine and Cheese Reception on Monday as part of Graduate Student Showcase. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Library staff members Alex Regan, top right, and Richard Caldwell, bottom photo, poured wine for grad students, while Housing staffer Pam Scott welcomed students. Collage credit: Patricia MarroquinGather 200 grad students into a room along with 70 bottles of wine and you have a happy place. Judging by the food and drink consumed at the UCSB Library Wine and Cheese Reception on Monday evening, a good time was had by all.

The reception is one of the many events in the Graduate Student Showcase, a two-week celebration of UCSB graduate students and their important work.

Cheese, crackers, and fruit were served at a long table inside Mary Cheadle Room on the 3rd floor of Davidson Library. In a departure this year, the wine – served with a smile by library staff members Richard Caldwell and Alex Regan – was poured out on the balcony. At the reception’s height, both Mary Cheadle Room and its balcony were packed.

At about 6:15 p.m., when it was announced that the library had run out of red wine, a groan could be heard from the crowd. But there was still white wine left, so all was good.

There are more opportunities for free food and drink this week. On Wednesday is a supersized Bagel Hour at the GSA Lounge from 8:15 to 11:15 a.m. On Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m., your Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti will scoop up ice cream at the Ice Cream Social, also in the GSA Lounge. And on Friday, you may enjoy a catered reception in Friendship Court after the Grad Slam Finals at Corwin Pavilion.The Grad Slam Finals begin at 3 p.m., with the reception immediately following.

The lively scene on the balcony of Mary Cheadle Room at Davidson Library. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

A complete schedule of events is posted on the Graduate Post’s Graduate Student Showcase page. Read  recaps of the preliminary rounds on the GradPost.

Enjoy our "Happy" musical photo slide show of the Library Wine and Cheese Reception below.

Winners of Grad Slam Semifinal Round 1, who will advance to the Finals, are, from left, Leah Kuritzky, Dibella Wdzenczny, Michelle Oyewole, Damien Kudela, and Deborah Barany. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

In the first of two Grad Slam semifinal rounds, 10 presenters from a variety of disciplines wowed the audience with their research, expertise, and passion for making a difference. These graduate students are tackling important world problems such as climate change, coral reef degradation, energy inefficiency, the extinction of languages, racism, and treating diseases. Here is a recap of their presentations:   

Leah Kuritzky spoke about maximizing light efficiency and output, while reducing costs. Credit: Patricia MarroquinLeah Kuritzky was the first presenter and she started off with a bang, or rather a flash, by lighting up the room with a prototype of a laser light. Leah hopes to maximize light efficiency and output, while reducing costs, which is critical in a country where 22% of the electricity goes toward lighting. 

Haddy Kreie’s presentation juxtaposed mass media images of voodoo with more realistic representations of voodoo culture. Haddy’s research explores how the popular media images of voodoo in black culture assume and promote racial inferiority.

Philip Deslippe asked the audience to raise their hands if they practiced yoga or knew anyone who did. A large number of hands shot up in the air. Philip then explained how having such a high number of participants of yoga would not have been the case 40 years ago before yoga became mainstream and popular. Philip turned the traditional notion of yoga on its head and described how re-enculturation has made yoga a worldwide phenomenon.

Philip Deslippe addressed how re-enculturation has made yoga a worldwide phenomenon. Credit: Patricia Marroquin David Jacobson described how the human genome project, a 10-year, $3 billion study with the goal of understanding human DNA, only mapped 2% of the DNA. David asked, “What does the other 98% (the so-called non-coding DNA) do?” According to David, researchers need to map the entire web of interactions during the coding process in order to truly understand how life emerges and how diseases can be treated.

Dibella Wdzenczny showed some images that traditionally come to mind when thinking about Siberia (freezing, desolate land, tigers) and commented on the fact that people in Siberia are usually left out of the picture. What’s more problematic is that the many different languages in Siberia are disappearing as children are forced to learn Chinese and Russian in school. Since language is essential for understanding people, culture, and knowledge, Dibella believes that Siberia needs more linguists who can record languages and prevent them from extinction.

Michelle Oyewole started her presentation with two images of delicious-looking strawberries. She explained how even though these images look the same, the group of strawberries on the left gave off three times more emissions than the ones on the right. According to Michelle, “As organic agriculture continues to expand, there’s an increasing need to quantify emissions from these fields.” Michelle’s research looks as these emissions in relation to climate change and she hopes to find ways to reduce the emissions.

Deborah Barany compared the human brain to computers and described how even though we have incredibly advanced computers, like IBM’s Watson, computers are still very far behind in imitating human goal-directed actions. Deborah’s research uses a fMRI machine to study the brain. She hopes to find a way to harness thoughts and translate them into action.

Samantha Davis talked about efforts to help coral reefs recover. Credit: Patricia MarroquinDamien Kudela described how stopping bleeding has been a problem that has plagued scientists for a very long time (bandages have been traced back to ancient Greece). Damien’s research focuses on finding the “just right” dosage for blood clotting because “the quicker we can provide treatment, the more likely it is the patient will survive.”

Logan Fiorella shared how teaching is a highly dynamic process and past research fails to capture the complex nature of teaching. He designed a new model to help researchers and educators understand the many variables of the learning by teaching process.

Samantha Davis started her presentation with an image of a beautiful coral reef. Unfortunately, according to Samantha, coral reefs are dying off at an increasingly rapid pace and she believes this may be due to the coral reefs’ lack of resilience. Samantha hopes to uncover the causes of diminishing resilience in order to help coral reefs recover so that future generations can enjoy the beautiful oceans the way that we do.

After much contemplation, the judges selected the following five presenters to move on to the Grad Slam Final Round on Friday, April 18, at 3 p.m. in Corwin Pavilion:

Leah Kuritzky

Damien Kudela

Deborah Barany

Michelle Oyewole

Dibella Wdzenczny

The five Grad Slam competitors from Semifinal Round 2 advancing to the Finals are, from left, Matt Cieslak, Aubrie Adams, James Allen, Don Daniels, and Michael Zakrewsky. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

How can we …

Prevent wildfires?

Save dying languages?

Combat bacterial infections?

Map the entire ocean’s ecosystem?

Reduce LGBT bullying and harassment?

Find missing structures in the brain?

The 11 graduate student presenters in the second Grad Slam Semifinal round are conducting research to answer these critical questions. During the semifinal round, these incredible students amazed the audience with their professionally crafted, entertaining, and engaging presentations.

Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti calls on audience members during a question-and-answer session while the judges deliberated. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Here is a recap of the 11 presentations:

Don Daniels explained how when languages die, a window into the history, culture, and humanity of the past closes. According to Don, “Language death is a human tragedy.” His research is working to prevent the disappearance of historical languages in Papua New Guinea that were used more than 3,000 years ago.

According to Dayton Horvath, “Life is one big party (or so it seems here at UCSB sometimes). And, keeping this party going is a massive array of energy resources.” While solar power is by far the best renewable energy resource, our energy demands don’t track with the sun. Dayton’s research focuses on artificial photosynthesis as an alternative energy source. He hopes that his research will provide a solution to the increasing demand for energy.

Michael Zakrewsky shared how bacterial infections have been responsible for wiping out entire populations throughout human history (e.g., the plague). Worse yet, bacterial tumors are similar to cancer tumors in that they resist many forms of treatment. Michael is conducting research on a new arsenal of materials that will create extremely potent solutions to kill bacteria with zero irritation to the skin and zero side effects.

Aubrie Adams discussed perceptions of emoticon use by teachers. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Nate Emery flashed an image of a raging wildfire and described how wildfires have profound economic and ecological consequences. His research is looking at plants that absorb water from the fog that rolls in during the summer since these plants are less likely to catch on fire during the dry months. Nate shared that, “This foggy idea of mine will inform fire management.”

Aubrie Adams began her presentation with an image of smiling Dr. Kimo Ah Yun. However, Aubrie shared, “He might look like a nice guy, but he doesn’t come across as a nice guy in email.” Aubrie’s research explores text- and computer-based communication to understand how teachers can show caring and emotion through text. She found that with a small number of emoticon usage, teachers can show caring while still portraying competence.

Alexander Pucher started his campaign with, “My name is Alex, and I want to democratize the cloud.” Alex described how everyone uses and relies on the cloud, yet, only a few companies can afford to run the data centers that host the cloud. This leads to increased costs and decreased innovation. Alex’s research focuses on combining smaller data centers into bigger, more reliable ones in order to help smaller data centers become more competitive, to ensure fairer prices, and to increase the speed of innovation.

Carly Thomsen shared how gay rights movements often project an “Out and Proud” metronormative narrative that does not reflect the narratives of individuals in rural areas. She interviewed 51 lesbians in a rural area and found that they prefer to identify with their rural identity over their sexual identity. Carly encouraged the audience to think about the limits of metronormative narratives.

Audrey Harkness addressed parent messaging about youth sexuality. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

James Allen engaged the audience by asking everyone to take a deep breath. He then asked, “Did you know that half of the oxygen you took in came from microscopic cells in the ocean called phytoplankton?” James is using satellite photos to map plant interactions in the ocean. Rather than waiting months or years for boats to travel the entire ocean to collect data, James uses satellite imaging to create a picture of the ocean in weeks. He hopes to use the data from these images to map out entire ecosystems in the ocean.

Audrey Harkness introduced the audience to two hypothetical male students: Alex and Sam. Alex contributes to LGBT harassment and bullying, while Sam is an LGBT ally and steps in to stop the harassment. There are many factors that can contribute to students’ attitudes about sexuality and one of the important factors is parents. Audrey’s research looks at parent messaging and youth attitudes about sexuality. She hopes to develop evidence-based workshops to help all parents provide better messages to their children.

Matt Cieslak talked about an algorithm he has created to assist research into brain injury. Credit: Patricia MarroquinMira Rai Waits explained how biometrics (fingerprint mapping) were first used to hold men to their words since signatures were not very binding collateral. Once a scientist discovered that fingerprints provide accurate visual markers of identity, fingerprints were used to track diverse and unfamiliar native populations. Fingerprints then became linked to criminality. And, yet, here we are today with fingerprint scanners on our phones. Mira expressed the importance of understanding the history of biometrics and “remembering how visual markers of our body have come to control us.”

Matt Cieslak is using new neuroimaging technology to examine deep inside the white matter in the brain. He developed an algorithm that searches thousands of images of the brain to find missing structures in specific groups of individuals (e.g., adults who stutter). His research has important implications for research on brain injuries (e.g., concussions) and diseases.

After much deliberation, the judges selected the following five students to advance to the Grad Slam Final Round on Friday, April 18, at 3 p.m. in Corwin Pavilion:

James Allen

Aubrie Adams

Michael Zakrewsky

Matt Cieslak

Don Daniels

Graphic created by Torrey Trust

Photos and collage by Patricia Marroquin

For those of you who missed UCSB Graduate Division's Ice Cream Social and Sundae Bar, here's the scoop:

There were four flavors from McConnell's in 2.5-gallon tubs:
Credit: Patricia Marroquin

• Vanilla
• Strawberry
• Dutchman's Chocolate
• Salted Caramel Chip

Numerous toppings were available, including:

• Caramel
• Chocolate
• Butterscotch
• Whipped Cream
• M&Ms
• Reese's Pieces
• Gummi Bears
• Maraschino cherries
• Sprinkles of all kinds such as Cookie Cream Crunch and Dark Chocolate Crunch

Best ice cream social-themed attire: lime sherbet-hued pants worn by Robert Hamm, Graduate Division's Coordinator of Graduate Student Professional Development.

And there were too many Graduate Division Deans scooping your ice cream.

Fun Factoid: Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti and Associate Dean Karen Myers both got their first jobs at ice cream parlors. Dean Genetti worked at a Baskin-Robbins in San Rafael, California, and Associate Dean Myers worked at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour in Scottsdale, Arizona.

View our photo slideshow video below.

The Graduate Division thanks everyone for attending.

Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti with the Grad Slam 2014 winners: James Allen, center, grand prize winner; and runners-up Damien Kudela and Deborah Barany. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

The three winners presenting their talks: Deborah Barany, James Allen, and Damien Kudela. Credit: Patricia MarroquinDuring the Grad Slam Final Round, 10 brave graduate students shared their 3-minute research presentations with a large crowd that filled Corwin Pavilion.

Since the majority of the presentations were similar to the participants’ semifinal round talks, I will not take up your time with another recap (you can find all of the Grad Slam recaps here: http://gradpost.ucsb.edu/grad-slam-recaps-2014). Instead, I will get straight to the point. After the 10 presenters gave their professional and inspiring talks, the judges selected the following winners:

Grand Prize Winner: James G. Allen (Marine Science), “Measuring Cells from Space: Remote Sensing of Phytoplankton Size Distribution”

Runner-Up: Deborah Barany (Dynamical Neuroscience), “The Brain in Action”

Runner-Up: Damien Kudela (Chemistry), “Smart Drugs to Stop Bleeding”

Of course, everyone was a winner in the Grad Slam Final Round, which is why I have created additional categories for the rest of the presenters, and a few others:

Credit: Patricia MarroquinBest Use of Popular Media: Leah Kuritzky

Most Impressive Comparison of Spaghetti to Brain Research: Matt Cieslak

Outstanding Use of the Angry Kid Meme: Aubrie Adams

Most Dramatic (“We Just Don’t Have Anything Else That Works!”): Michael Zakrewsky

Most Impressive Use of a Cassowary to Explain Language: Don Daniels

Best Use of Food: Michelle Oyewole

Outstanding Comparison of Language to Biology: Dibella Wdzenczny

Future Career as a DJ: Don Lubach, Associate Dean, First Year and Graduate Student Initiatives, aka DJ Donny Don

Best judges: Hannah-Beth Jackson, California State Senator; Gene Lucas, Former Executive Vice Chancellor and Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering; Michael Witherell, Vice Chancellor for Research and Professor of Physics; Denise Stephens, University Librarian; John Wiemann, Professor Emeritus of Communication; and Sarah Cline, Professor Emerita of History.

Most welcoming host: Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti

After being amazed by the Grad Slam finalists, the audience members headed outdoors for the Graduate Student Showcase Reception. The reception featured a delicious selection of foods (empanadas, mushroom-stuffed risotto cakes, quesadillas, and more) as well as a live band.

Overall, the Grad Slam and Graduate Student Showcase were a great success and a fun way to show off the incredible research that graduate students are conducting.

Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti calls for questions from the audience for the 10 finalists. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Credit: Torrey Trust

Life as a K-12 student is littered with projects and activities of varying degrees of interest, but we all have at least some fond memories of projects that went right (or hilariously wrong). Papier-Mache volcanoes, miniature suspension bridges, crates that can help eggs survive a two-story fall, and many other projects stand out in our minds because of the time they took, the pride we took in them, and the knowledge that we were able to take away from the experience.

These common experiences of learning subjects, and particularly science, are still prevalent in many schools, although recent initiatives such as Race to the Top (RTTT) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have encouraged pushing such projects along the path of “college and career readiness.” Many teachers struggle to balance these initiatives with their own desires to make certain that their students know they are more than a growing cog in the economic engine that drives the country, and often larger projects serve as a meeting point of college and career readiness and helping students understand themselves and the world.

From left, Bryan Latchford, Susan Dworsky-Robinson, and Casey O'Hara are the Bren students behind the film "Where the Wonder Went." Credit: Bren SchoolIt is at this meeting point that three UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science & Management graduate students, Bryan Latchford, Susan Dworsky-Robinson, and Casey O’Hara, have entered, camera first, environmental science education at local schools. In order to complete a requirement for the Bren School, the students had to create a film within 10 weeks that could help to change the dialogue around environmental issues.

They decided to use the project as an opportunity to explore the ways in which teachers were engaging their students in learning science.  “When I was in school,” said Casey, “my favorite classes were always the ones where we applied our knowledge to projects – not just a paper or a test.  The best projects were the ones with no clear answer, that went beyond what was in the textbook.” 

With this as their starting point, the group began figuring out how to create a video that would capture the work that students and teachers were doing in science classrooms. “We saw this as a great opportunity to make something not only entertaining but a film that highlighted the importance of great science education in the classroom,” said Bryan, a 2013 graduate of the Bren School.

Creating "Where the Wonder Went" had its ups and downs. “We made many mistakes,” said Casey, a member of the 2014 class, “including video and sound issues with several critical interviews with Bren faculty.” Eventually, however, the group pulled together a clear narrative: “We went from 30 seconds of mediocre footage to a 15-minute film in about a week,” said Casey. 

Bryan Latchford, right, met "Bill Nye the Science Guy" at the 2013 Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival. Credit: Smarty PantsThe film, which examines science instruction at Monroe Elementary School in Santa Barbara and at Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy in Goleta, captures teachers helping students bring together scientific concepts and the real world in meaningful ways. Teachers brought this together with “endless enthusiasm about science education,” according to Bryan. The enthusiasm prevented the classes from becoming, as Casey puts it, “a list of facts and equations rather than a process of discovery and wonder.” 

"Where the Wonder Went" won the Audience Choice award during the Santa Barbara Digital Film Festival in 2013, and screened twice during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in early February 2014. “Showing the film in the SB Film Festival was an amazing experience,” said Bryan, “and because the programs we highlighted were local, we received amazing feedback from the SB community.” 

The team also hopes to reach out to a wider variety of audiences and encourages them to think creatively about how science can be taught. “We hope it inspires teachers to push past the obstacles that bind them, and bring their passion and excitement into science classrooms at all levels,” said Casey. Bryan agrees: “Working with these teachers has shown me that although the complexities of the educational system can bog down the learning process, there are many opportunities for teachers to break through.”

View "Where the Wonder Went" below.

Véronique LaCapra, who earned a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology from UCSB in 2000, has pursued her passion for storytelling in a career as a science, environment, and health journalist at St. Louis Public Radio, a local NPR affiliate station.

Véronique LaCapra has gone to great lengths for her career, both literally and figuratively. The UCSB Ph.D. alum traveled for days – catching three flights, hopping on a ferry, and riding in a pickup – to reach the Galapagos Islands, where she followed two field scientists who captured birds and trapped mosquitoes for their research into avian malaria. She toured a "honeymoon resort" for slimy salamanders built at the St. Louis Zoo to help them breed. And she donned hospital scrubs to witness kidney-pancreas transplant surgery on a Type 1 diabetic.

Whether she’s in a field, a zoo, or an operating room, Dr. LaCapra – a 1992 Towbes fellow recipient who earned her Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology from UCSB in 2000 – gets to tell compelling stories in her “never boring” career as a science, environment, and health reporter for St. Louis Public Radio, a local NPR affiliate station. 

It was the environment, not journalism, that first captivated Véronique during her childhood years in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and abroad. “We spent many summers visiting my mother’s family in (Auxerre) France,” LaCapra, who grew up bicultural and bilingual, said in an interview with the GradPost. “My mother loved being out in nature, and we spent a lot of time outdoors. I loved hiking, swimming, and being around wildlife.”

An inquisitive Véronique “brought my mom home tadpoles, caterpillars, earthworms — and eventually a Ph.D. in ecology and evolution,” LaCapra wrote in her Galapagos piece.

UCSB Ph.D. student Véronique LaCapra takes water samples in Brazil's Pantanal.

There were several factors that played into her decision to pursue that Ph.D. at UC Santa Barbara.

LaCapra had earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental policy and biology from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1991 and knew she wanted to study ecology in graduate school. “But I wasn’t sure how I wanted to specialize within that field, so I applied to quite a few different graduate schools,” LaCapra said. “I was interested in marine biology and aquatic ecology in general, and I hoped to do fieldwork overseas. As someone who had grown up in Boston and gone to undergrad at Cornell, I wanted to try living on the West Coast for a while, so most of the schools I applied to were in California, Oregon, or Washington state.”

She chose UCSB, first and foremost, she said, because of its attractive financial package that included a Towbes fellowship, which is marking 25 years of assistance to graduate students here.

Reporter Véronique LaCapra, wearing hospital scrubs, holds a microphone to record a double transplant operation.Another lure for LaCapra was the opportunity to do fieldwork in Brazil under Professor John Melack, one of two UCSB professors who invited her to work with them. And, of course, a third reason to leave Cornell for California, she said, was that “Santa Barbara is a beautiful place!”

LaCapra’s dissertation involved research into floodplain water chemistry in burned and unburned areas of the Pantanal wetland of Brazil. This research fed into her love of exploring different parts of the world.

When nearing the end of her graduate studies, LaCapra thought she might want to work for a big environmental organization such as the World Wildlife Fund or Conservation International. But when offered a position as a pesticide regulator at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., she took it, figuring she might move from there to one of those big non-governmental organizations.

But she stayed a while, until she “eventually got burned out on the politics of working for a regulatory agency,” she said. “And I also realized I wanted to put my lifelong love of writing toward something more creative than government reports!”

She considered pursuing environmental writing. “Almost by accident,” she said, “I ended up taking a writing for radio class taught by a former NPR host. I loved the class, and went from there to a couple of audio documentary production workshops at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies. After those, I was hooked!”

Dr. Véronique LaCapra interviews professor and monarch butterfly expert Lincoln Brower.Her supervisor at the EPA allowed her to spend four months working as a radio reporter at the Voice of America. There, she covered health and environmental research of interest to VOA’s developing-country audience. This led to her going part time at the EPA in order to keep freelancing at Voice of America, which in turn led to her landing the job she has now, as a radio science journalist in St. Louis. In addition to airing on St. Louis Public Radio, LaCapra's work regularly airs nationally on NPR.

What LaCapra enjoys most about the job she has held since February 2010 is the variety of assignments she undertakes. “I like that I get to cover a wide range of topics – everything from new science research, to health and environmental policy, to agriculture and biotechnology. Every day is different, and it’s never boring. I love the craft of radio – taking first-person interviews and weaving them together with ambient sound, music, or other elements, to create compelling stories.”

Véronique LaCapra met up with scientists at the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands.Her storytelling work has taken her all over the map to interview people from all walks of life – surgeons to sewer district supervisors. And she attributes her graduate education at UCSB for helping to prepare her for this role.

“Having a background in science has helped me earn the respect and trust of both the scientists I interview and of listeners,” she said. “I think I approach journalism like a scientist, in a way – I do my research and strive to be as accurate in my reporting as I possibly can be.”

For LaCapra, the rewards of the job come from feedback she receives from both her interview subjects and listeners. “I love when someone tells me: ‘You know, I didn’t think I’d be interested in that topic, but your story made me keep listening!’”

For more on LaCapra’s own interesting story, keep reading. The science journalist discusses what she enjoyed most about her graduate studies here at UCSB; shares the experience she had in her two field seasons of research in the Pantanal wetland in Brazil; offers advice on how to better prepare UCSB grad students for careers; among other topics.

UCSB Ph.D. students Steve Hamilton and Véronique LaCapra conduct research in Brazil's Pantanal. Today Dr. Hamilton is a Professor of Ecosystem Ecology & Biogeochemistry at Michigan State University.

Please tell us about your UCSB dissertation and research.

The title was “The Biogeochemistry of Floodplain Waters in Burned and Unburned Areas of the Pantanal Wetland of Brazil.”

For my dissertation research, I spent two field seasons living in the small Brazilian town of Corumbá, on the border of Bolivia, in huge wetland called the Pantanal. It’s a seasonally flooded savanna, crisscrossed by several major rivers (the largest of which is the Paraguay River), all of which flood during the rainy season. It’s also an area that has a long history of free-range cattle ranching. At the start of the dry season, the ranchers burn large areas to get rid of the dry, dead vegetation left over from the previous flood season, and to get new grass to sprout for their cattle.

After particularly bad dry seasons, there are sometimes large fish kills. I was interested in trying to understand what might be causing those. To do that, I compared floodplain water chemistry in burned and unburned areas of the wetland. My research supported previous work carried out by students in Melack’s lab, suggesting that the fish kills are a natural phenomenon caused by the flooding of large areas of dry vegetation. When that vegetation breaks down, the process of decomposition consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide, asphyxiating the fish that can’t get to faster flowing, more oxygen-rich waters.

What was graduate school like for you?

I loved my time living and working in the Pantanal. I also learned a lot from some of the older, more experienced students in Melack’s lab, several of whom were Brazilian themselves. Since I was essentially fresh out of undergrad (I took only one year “off” to teach environmental education in between undergrad and grad school), it was great to have the benefit of their experience in figuring out how to conduct my own research. I also got really wonderful support from the Brazilian researchers I worked with in the Pantanal. I am still in touch with several of the friends I had when I lived there, and I have been back to Brazil several times to visit since then.

Is there anything you didn’t know about graduate school then that you wish you had known before you began?

Well, when I was in grad school at UCSB, the EEMB program was very unstructured (I believe it has changed a lot since then). There were really no required classes, or even deadlines for completing written or oral exams. Although I enjoy working independently, back then I would have had an easier time with a more structured program, and with more guidance from my advisor (and other professors) along the way.

What were your career goals while you were a grad student at UCSB?

I don’t think I knew what I wanted to do after graduate school for most of the time I was at UCSB. I knew I loved being out in nature, doing the fieldwork. And I also loved living in Brazil, learning and adapting to a new culture and language. In my last year or two, back in Santa Barbara, I realized I probably didn’t want to become a professor.  But at the time, there was really no guidance available for Ph.D. students (at least in ecology) who wanted to pursue a career outside of academia.

Do you have any suggestions for universities on how to better prepare grad students for careers?

That’s a tough question. I think (hope?) most graduate schools are doing a better job of recognizing that many Ph.D. students will not become professors, and of providing more guidance about alternative careers. Just this past week, I spoke with graduate students at the University of Missouri-St. Louis about my career trajectory – that graduate seminar was all about exposing students to alternative science careers –  in industry, government, non-profits, etc.

Véronique LaCapra with one of her mentors, public radio journalist Alex Chadwick.I also think financial counseling for students is critical, in this age of ever-increasing educational costs.

What strengths do you think a grad student would bring to an employer?

I think graduate school gives students strong analytical skills, and the ability to work and think independently.

Who has been and/or is a hero, mentor, role model, or inspiration to you?

My parents ... several wonderful high school teachers ... and so many people that I’ve had the opportunity to meet as a science reporter, who are passionate about their work and beliefs.

At UCSB, Dr. Oliver Chadwick, without whose support (both moral and financial) I might not have completed my doctorate.

In public radio, there are so many! But (public radio journalist) Alex Chadwick; (former NPR field producer, host, and reporter) Katie Davis; John Biewen of the Center for Documentary Studies; (NPR multimedia engineer and journalist) Flawn Williams; and (NPR science editor) Alison Richards, just to name a few!

What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment?

Véronique LaCapra met Garrison Keillor at a public radio event.I hope that’s still to come!

What’s on your bucket list of things to do that you haven’t done?

I want to travel as much as I can and see as much of the world as I can.

What is something that very few people know about you or that would surprise people to learn about you?

People who know me know this, but it might be a surprise to the people I’ve interviewed – I’m very much of an introvert. So it takes a lot of “gearing up” for me to approach people I don’t know, and get them to talk to me on tape!

You do a lot of traveling for your job. What do you do for fun and/or relaxation when not working?

Yup, traveling! As much as I can. And I also love to sing. I’ve been in choral groups for most of my life – although sadly, not since becoming a full-time reporter – the schedule is just too unpredictable.

What did receiving fellowship assistance mean to you?

It meant a lot. The financial package I was offered was one of the main factors that made me choose UCSB over the other graduate programs I was accepted into. Thanks to the fellowship, and subsequent research and teaching assistant positions, I was able to get my graduate degree without incurring any debt at all – which has given me an enormous amount of freedom in choosing what career to pursue after graduate school.

Here are links to some of Véronique LaCapra's work:

Investigation: Missouri's Execution Drug Source Raises Legal, Ethical Questions

'Shake-and-Bake' Meth Causes Uptick in Burn Victims

Ancient Suburb Near St. Louis Could Be Lost Forever

Trumpeter Swans Flock in Record Numbers to St. Louis-Area Bird Sanctuary

Two Young Women Scientists from UMSL Forge Their Futures in the Galapagos

You can see and hear more of LaCapra’s work at stlpublicradio.org.

Deborah Barany, a third-year student in the new interdepartmental graduate program in Dynamical Neuroscience, is conducting research on how the brain integrates and organizes relevant information to produce successful action. Deborah recently participated in the Grad Slam - a campuswide competition for the best three-minute research talk. Her presentation wowed the audience and judges and she took home one of the top prizes. Deborah has an M.A. in Psychology from UCSB and a B.A. in Neuroscience and Mathematics from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Read on to learn more about Deborah's research and experiences in graduate school.

Tell us a little about your research and how you came to choose the topic.

Deborah Barany at Watsons Bay, Sydney, AustraliaThe overall goal of my research in the Action Lab is to understand how the human brain controls goal-directed movement. My work so far has focused on using fMRI and machine learning algorithms to analyze the patterns of brain activity associated with different components of simple movements (for example, an object’s location, movement direction, or hand posture). By looking at these patterns, we can infer the large-scale representations of movement across many brain regions. Researching questions in motor control with fMRI and other neuroimaging techniques has quite a few practical challenges, but it ultimately allows us to better understand how the brain integrates and organizes relevant information to produce successful action, and how this underlying organization might differ in people with movement disorders.

The simple reason for why I chose this topic is that I wanted a way to combine my interest for sports and music with my interest in science and math. My senior year of high school, I learned about how cognitive neuroscience methods could be used to answer questions related to how athletes learn to move about dynamic environments, and how musicians learn to link specific movements to produce beautiful sound. I was instantly hooked, and knew that I wanted to be involved in that type of research.

What was it like to participate in the Grad Slam? What did you learn from the experience?

Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti with the Grad Slam 2014 winners: James Allen, center, grand prize winner; and runners-up Damien Kudela and Deborah Barany. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe Grad Slam was such a fun experience, although at times a little (a lot) nerve-wracking. But I loved the opportunity to be able to share my research with the community, as well as to hear about all the amazing work being done on campus. I had no idea of the extent and breadth of the graduate student research at UCSB — it is great to have Grad Slam as a platform to facilitate the communication of all these diverse projects in an interesting way.

I learned quite a bit going through each stage of the process. Preparing the presentation really forced me to think about the best way to communicate my research. Hopefully, I can transfer what I’ve learned from Grad Slam to more casual conversations so I don’t get as many blank stares while trying to explain what I do.

I also benefited from attending a professional development workshop that allowed us to practice our presentation and get valuable feedback from other students and staff, including a few of last year’s Grad Slammers. Finally, I realized that it takes a lot of time and effort to be able to craft and deliver a short three-minute talk, but it was definitely worth it to gain the confidence to communicate about neuroscience and to be able to share my excitement for research with a general audience.

What has graduate student life been like for you?

Deborah in front of the MRI scanner at the UCSB Brain Imaging CenterI was lucky in that I came to UCSB as part of a unusually large (and good-looking) incoming cohort for Psychological & Brain Sciences — being able to take the same classes, learn the ropes, and just hang out together really made it easy to adapt to and be comfortable with the grind of graduate student life. I am also grateful to have an outstanding advisor, Dr. Scott Grafton, who allows me the flexibility and resources to explore different experimental ideas while at the same time keeping me set up to succeed.

In the same way, the current and former members in the Action Lab have helped me grow immensely as a scientist — they’re always ready and willing to help when I have a question or when I’m stuck on a problem (which seems like most of the time). In general, I feel like I’m always surrounded by amazing people doing amazing things, so I’m just happy to be a part of it all and enjoy the journey. And the Santa Barbara weather isn’t too shabby, either.

What has been a source of motivation or drive for you in your graduate studies?

Logan Fiorella and Deborah Barany with a new friend in Queensland, Australia.My field is still rapidly evolving — it’s difficult to keep up with all the new ideas and methods, but it’s an exciting time to be involved as well. I’m driven by a desire to make meaningful contributions to our understanding of the brain, and I’d like to think that every time I read a new article, learn a new skill, or have a conversation about research, I move one tiny step toward that goal.

In addition, my family (many of whom are scientists) has been a constant source of motivation and support. I especially admire my grandmother, Kate Bárány, who was a muscle physiologist and strong advocate for women in science, and whose life and work I am only beginning to truly appreciate as I move forward in my education.

Name an accomplishment you are most proud of and describe why.

This is mostly due to the recency effect, but I’m proud of completing my first graduate research project. I went into the project knowing very little about how to conduct an fMRI experiment, and how to analyze the data, but I received an incredible amount of mentorship from my collaborators that allowed me to feel somewhat competent every step of the way. There were a good share of frustrating moments, but it was so rewarding to see the project progress from the first pilot subject to the final revision of the paper (to appear in The Journal of Neuroscience in a month or so). I’m glad to be done, but mostly because this means I can start all over again with a new project and hopefully be able to apply what I’ve learned.

What do you do to relax? Any hobbies, collections, pastimes, favorite places to go, favorite things to do? Along these same lines, what makes you happy?

Deborah does some rock climbing in Santa Barbara.I love to play sports, which is probably the closest I’ll ever get to fieldwork in motor control. At UCSB, I’m part of the Psychological & Brain Sciences IM volleyball team (“Bump, Set, Psych”), and I play pickup handball with other graduate students. I try to take advantage of the wonderful Santa Barbara climate, which means playing year-round outdoor tennis, hiking, rock climbing, and (unsuccessfully) surfing. I enjoy playing guitar — either writing songs or playing whatever is currently stuck in my head.

Recently, both because of and in spite of being in graduate school, I’ve been able to travel to and explore various parts of the world with my boyfriend Logan Fiorella. When not traveling, we enjoy going to the movies, partially, if not completely, due to the free popcorn coupons they have at the theaters in Santa Barbara.

What do you hope to be doing 5 or 10 years out of graduate school?

I hope to have an academic position somewhere nice where I can do important research and teach motivated students. Dreaming big.

Do you have any advice for current grad students?

I think I echo a common sentiment in that grad school is all about finding the right balance between work and life outside of work. Almost three years in, I’m still working on finding the right balance. So far I’ve come to realize that if I’m able to get outside of the basement where I work and enjoy the sunshine for just a short time, I usually end up having a good day.

UCSB community members gathered Saturday evening for a Candelight Vigil in honor of the victims of the Isla Vista rampage. Credit: George Foulsham, Office of Public Affairs and Communications

The following is a letter to the UC Santa Barbara community from Chancellor Henry T. Yang:

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing again to share more sad news. Yesterday we were informed that three of our students, Katherine Cooper (senior), Christopher Martinez (junior), and Veronika Weiss (sophomore) were among those killed during the tragic events on Friday night. Today the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office released the names of the remaining victims and they are also members of our community. They are George Chen and W. Wang, both juniors in the College of Engineering. The parents of the third student have requested that we only use his initials, C.H.

Our sense of loss is immeasurable. We are offering our full support to their families, and our thoughts and prayers are with them. In the coming days we will also explore with the families how we may best honor their memories. We have established a fund, The UC Santa Barbara Community Fund (https://secure.my-websites.org/supporter/donatenow.do?n=Fs@5Cs&dfdbid=1203702), to honor our students who were victims of this tragedy and to memorialize their lasting impact and contributions to the UC Santa Barbara community.

The number of reported injuries has been revised to 13. Nine of those taken to the hospital were UC Santa Barbara students. We have been informed that six of these nine students have already been released and one is expected to be released tomorrow (Monday, May 26). We fervently wish all the injured a full recovery.

The safety and welfare of our students is our top priority. We have counselors available today and tomorrow at our Student Resource Building from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and by phone at 805-893-4411 around the clock. With support from the UCLA and UC Irvine police departments, we have also increased police patrols in Isla Vista and on campus. In addition, our CSO Escort Program provides courtesy escorts for our students and community members traveling on campus and in Isla Vista at any time. To request a CSO safety escort, simply call our Police Dispatch line at 805-893-2000. I encourage every student to enter this number in your cell phone now, so that it will be readily accessible when you need it. Escorts can also be requested through the red emergency phones located all over campus.

I am moved by the love and support demonstrated by our community, especially during these difficult times. Dilling and I were honored to join our students for last night’s candlelight vigil, the first of what I anticipate will be many events to honor the victims and to come together as a community. We are planning a campus memorial service, and will send another communication later today with additional information and other updates.

Sincerely,

Henry T. Yang
Chancellor

On his Facebook page, UCSB alum Michael Douglas said: "My deepest sympathy to the victims, families, and friends of this terrible tragedy. My thoughts are with the entire UCSB family. Michael Douglas, '68" Credit: Michael Douglas Facebook pageA Message from Chancellor Henry T. Yang and Interim Executive Vice Chancellor Joel Michaelsen

To the Campus Community:

In light of the tragic events that occurred on Friday night, after discussions with the Academic Senate, Associated Students, and our administrative colleagues, we are declaring Tuesday, May 27, a Day of Mourning and Reflection. There will be a memorial service at Harder Stadium on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. organized jointly by students, staff, and faculty.  Also, Associated Students has asked us to let our community know that our students are planning a memorial wall at the Pardall Center.

Regular classes will not be held on Tuesday. However, because our academic community needs a space for talking and healing as well as mourning, we ask that faculty come to campus on Tuesday to be available to meet with students. We suggest that faculty communicate with our students and teaching assistants to let them know whether they will be meeting at their regularly scheduled class time, or in office hours, or both. Staff should report to work as usual, but employees who need to request time off from work should coordinate those requests with their supervisors. Classes will resume on Wednesday (May 28).

We wish to reiterate the message from the undergraduate deans that academic advisors are available to assist students who are concerned that this tragedy will interfere with the completion of their courses. Our dedicated advisors will do everything they can to ensure that no student’s academic record is adversely affected by this difficult situation. There will be extended walk-in advising hours this week starting on Tuesday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., including the lunch hour. Faculty, instructors, and teaching assistants will receive additional information from their department chairs and deans about how to provide guidance and alternatives to students who may need assistance as theyCredit: UC Santa Barbara Instagram (@ucsantabarbara) complete their academic year.

We remind students, faculty, and staff that professional counselors are available to provide support to all members of our community. We encourage you to consult them to address your own needs and to get advice about how you can help others if they reach out to you. Counselors can be reached by phone at 805-893-4411, 24 hours a day.  Counselors will be available for in-person visits all day Tuesday at the Student Resource Building.

This is a period of mourning for all of us. The moving candlelight vigil that our students organized on Saturday evening began the process of healing. On Tuesday we will remember and honor the victims of this horrible event, and come together as an academic community to reflect, talk with each other, and think about the future. As terrible as these past two days have been, they make us believe in our students and the entire UCSB community more than ever.

Henry T. Yang, Chancellor

Joel Michaelsen, Interim Executive Vice Chancellor

During this difficult time, as students are connecting with their personal and on-campus support networks, many will likely have questions about various administrative actions available to them and how to deal with their academic program, now and for the remainder of the quarter.

Please note the extended academic advising hours for the College of Letters & Science below.

Along with the extended hours in the college offices for this week, L&S advisors will be at the EOP/L&S satellite advising office in the afternoons, following EOP office hours. The hours for advising hours in the College of Letters & Science and for SRB students in the EOP/L&S satellite office are listed below.

L&S hours in Cheadle Hall:
Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Open through lunch, closing early for the memorial)
Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Open through lunch)
Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Open through lunch)
Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Open through lunch)

L&S hours in SRB, Non-Traditional Resource Center Room 1109:
Tuesday, 1 to 3 p.m. (SRB/EOP closing early for the memorial)
Wednesday, 1 to 5 p.m.
Thursday, 1 to 5 p.m.
Friday, 1 to 5 p.m.

To make an academic advising appointment:
http://my.sa.ucsb.edu/LSAA_Appts/index.aspx
or call 805-893-2038

Academic Advising Walk-in Hours:
Weekdays 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., 1 to 3:30 p.m.

A message in chalk from concerned teaching assistants in front of the Alpha Phi sorority house in Isla Vista, where a makeshift memorial of flowers, candles, and messages was erected. Credit: Patricia MarroquinIn morning and afternoon sessions today at the Graduate Students Association Lounge, UCSB graduate student teaching assistants were presented with guidelines and advice on how to best support students affected by the tragedy in Isla Vista.

The guidelines included strategies for understanding, managing, and coping with grief; resources and services available on campus; and the importance of self-care. These guidelines can apply to any interactions with students, not only in the classroom.

The following are a few of the points made during the session, in addition to links to PDFs with more in-depth information and a YouTube audiocast recap by Counseling and Psychological Services’ Dr. Turi Honegger.

The session was hosted by the GSA; the Graduate Division; and the Division of Student Affairs.

SELF-CARE

• Get adequate sleep, eat nourishing foods, and exercise regularly; maintain as normal a routine as possible.
• Don’t isolate yourself from others. Spend time with family and friends who can provide you with emotional support.
• Allow yourself to laugh; allow yourself to cry.
• Accept caring and practical support from others and let others know what you need.
• Avoid using drugs and alcohol to cope with emotions; they can conceal legitimate emotions and disturb the grieving process.
• If you are religious, seek solace from your faith.
• Avoid overexposure to media; take breaks from news sources as often as possible in order to avoid exacerbating acute stress symptoms.
• Give yourself all the time you need to feel and understand the loss.

Four-legged therapists offer unconditional love, and are sure to lower stress levels. This pooch was among those therapy dogs at Dog Therapy Day on Tuesday outside the SRB. Credit: Patricia MarroquinWHAT YOU CAN DO FOR OTHERS

• Be willing to talk about the loss, and encourage the griever to do so.
• Be a good listener – accept, don’t judge, what you hear.
• Reassure the griever that grief symptoms such as anger, guilt, and sadness are normal.
• It may be helpful to say things like: “What help do you need right now?,” “The feelings you’re having are understandable,” and “I don’t know what to say, but I care.”

WHAT NOT TO DO FOR OTHERS

Don’t say things like:

• Be strong
• Take a trip
• It will be better soon
• Count your blessings
• You’re better off than most people
• Keep your chin up
• You must put it behind you and get on with your life
• Time will heal
• If there’s anything I can do, just let me know.

These platitudes alienate and do not help the griever.

Signs offer free hugs and express support for Isla Vista outside the Student Resource Building today. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

Other resources and links:

Strategies for Managing Grief PDF

Understanding Grief PDF

Student Affairs Message to Faculty

Responding to a Campus Tragedy: Instructional Strategies for Instructors and TAs

Audio recap of the morning session by CAPS’ Dr. Turi Honegger: http://youtu.be/ctD9Bu4QI7U

Richard Martinez, father of Christopher Michaels-Martinez, made an impassioned plea to the crowd to take action against gun violence. Credit: Patricia Marroquin

It was a touching and emotional afternoon on Tuesday at the Memorial Service, “Our Hearts Are United,” in Harder Stadium. About 20,000 people came to pay their respects and honor six students struck down in the Isla Vista tragedy: George Chen (Computer Science); Katherine Cooper (Art History & Classics); James Hong (Computer Engineering); Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez (Undeclared); David Wang (Computer Engineering); and Veronika Weiss (Financial Math and Statistics). There were impassioned pleas, humorous recollections, tears, and laughter. Dignitaries, including UC President Janet Napolitano, UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang, and UC Board of Regents Chairman Bruce D. Varner, spoke eloquently. Soothing and beautiful music was heard from the UCSB Young Artist String Quartet; Vocal Motion; and BFOM. The crowd – of all ages, ethnicities, and walks of life – was united in its grief.

To read more about this moving service, see the UCSB Office of Public Affairs and Communications’ article, “We Remember Them.”

More than 20,000 people attended the Memorial Service on Tuesday. Photos by Patricia Marroquin

Scenes from the Memorial Service on Tuesday at Harder Stadium. Photos by Patricia Marroquin

About 1,500 people turned out for a Memorial Paddle Out in honor of the six UCSB students: George Chen (Computer Science); Katherine Cooper (Art History & Classics); James Hong (Computer Engineering); Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez (Undeclared); David Wang (Computer Engineering); and Veronika Weiss (Financial Math and Statistics).

Enjoy this beautiful paddle out video and this second touching video as well.

IV Memorial Paddle Out from julia Olson on Vimeo.

Rep. Lois Capps led a moment of silence on Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, Congresswoman and UCSB alumna Lois Capps (MA, 1990) of the 24th District led a moment of silence on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. “The nation stands with UCSB,” she said on her Facebook page.

“Together we have taken the first steps toward making sense of the senseless,” the congresswoman said on the House floor. “But it will be a long journey. We have many questions. And over the weeks and months ahead, perhaps more will be posed than we can answer. But we will work through it together. And while we all struggle to make sense of this tragedy, I want to thank you, my colleagues, and the communities across the nation for your prayers, your kind words, and your support. This act was fueled by hate. But in the wake of this tragedy, we as a nation have shown that in a dark time, we do not walk alone. We do not grieve alone. So we will not have to heal alone.”

View her speech and the moment of silence in the video below. View the congresswoman's news release here.

James Allen, a first-year Ph.D. student in the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Marine Science (IGPMS), is conducting research that has the potential to transform how ocean ecosystems are studied. James is using satellites rather than boats to collect data about phytoplankton in the ocean. He hopes to use his research to examine how the ocean is changing as a result of climate change.

James' passion for sharing his research with a wider audience is inspiring. Not only did he win the Grand Prize after competing in three grueling rounds of the 2014 Grad Slam, he also hopes to be the next Bill Nye or Neil deGrasse Tyson.

James has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geoscience - Meteorology from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Read on to learn more about his research and grad school experiences.

Tell us a little about your research and how you came to choose the topic.

James AllenMy research involves using satellites to measure the optical properties of the ocean. By looking at how light scatters and gets absorbed in the surface of the ocean, I hope to be able to more accurately measure the relative abundance of differing sizes of phytoplankton. With this information, we can more effectively measure how entire marine ecosystems are changing over time, how the ocean’s ability to export carbon from the atmosphere to depth is changing, and, ultimately, the ocean’s role in climate change for the future.

I’ve always been interested in weather and climate, and becoming a meteorology major as an undergrad really sparked my interest in climate change science. The idea of using satellites and remote sensing to do science and measure global changes blew my mind! I knew that would be how I wanted to contribute to our understanding of Earth’s changing climate. An internship doing research at NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program convinced me that I wanted to be a part of the amazing science that was happening in oceanography. Now, instead of looking up at the sky to forecast the weather, I’m looking down at the water to measure the changing ocean, and I couldn’t be happier.

What was it like to participate in the Grad Slam?

Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti with the Grad Slam 2014 winners: James Allen, center, grand prize winner; and runners-up Damien Kudela and Deborah Barany. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe Grad Slam was an amazing experience! One of my goals in life is to be able to educate the public about climate change while showing them just how awesome science can be, and the Grad Slam was the perfect opportunity to learn many outreach skills. Every step of the way, from the public speaking workshops beforehand, to each progressive round, many experienced people were there to guide me and help me become a better presenter.

Talking to the public is completely different from talking to a lab group, especially with a three-minute time limit. It involves a fine balance of getting your ideas out there, keeping them relevant and interesting, and all the while making sure everything is clear and concise. You learn a lot about yourself, too; we all have our strengths when it comes to presenting, and there are many paths we can take to play to these strengths to make an effective presentation. There were many amazing talks all throughout Grad Slam, and each person had their own style that showed that they had an idea, and they wanted to communicate it to as many people as possible.

What has graduate student life been like for you?

James collecting water samples in a Niskin bottle on the R/V Shearwater out in the Santa Barbara Channel.I feel like I’m really in my element here. There’s so much great work being done by people that are really passionate about what they do. It’s fun to be able to talk to other grad students across a wide variety of fields that are exploring and searching for answers to problems that you’ve never even thought about before.

I’m also surrounded by great mentors and friends! I’m lucky to have such a great advisor, Dr. David Siegel, who really pushes me to be the best scientist I can be. I’m very grateful for the fact that I’m housed in both Marine Science and Geography, so I’ve made a lot of friends in both areas that have made adjusting to grad life very easy.

What has been a source of motivation or drive for you in your graduate studies?

I’m hugely interested in doing outreach and getting the public more interested in science. I always say that I want to be the next James Hansen, Bill Nye, or Neil deGrasse Tyson, but maybe I can be cheesy and say that I want to be so good at what I do that someone in the future can say, “I want to be the next James Allen."

James showing off a lab coat.I have an insatiable curiosity to learn more about the world around me, and if I can spark that interest in more people, I feel like I can say I’ve done my job. There is so much out there that we haven’t even begun to think about, and everyone has the potential to become an explorer in their own right and bring new perspectives to the table. We just need more people to spark that curiosity and help people realize that science is a way to open doors to the world around them.

Name an accomplishment you are most proud of and describe why.

It might not seem very big here, but it would probably be the fact that I was able to TA for the first time. I’ve never been able to formally run my own sections before, and it was really exciting to be able to get up in front of a classroom and help teach really interesting topics in my field to students. I was so nervous at first, but by the end of the quarter, I was pretty comfortable with it. I spent a lot of time working getting my lectures set up, and it may have cut into my research time a bit (sorry, Dave!), but it was totally worth it, and I’m really happy that I was able to do it. I’m excited to be able to TA again soon!

What do you do to relax? Any hobbies, collections, pastimes, favorite places to go, favorite things to do? Along these same lines, what makes you happy?

James and some of his Geography cohort hiking in Santa Barbara.I love to explore new areas! I grew up in West Tennessee, so having mountains and ocean around me all the time is an entirely new experience. I really like hiking and backpacking, and there are a lot of great trails in this area that I look forward to exploring. I’m warming up to biking (here’s a secret: I just learned how to bike when I arrived here last summer!), and I can’t wait till I get good enough to try mountain biking, or at least try biking longer stretches on bike trails by the ocean. I also really love predicting the weather and forecasting for severe storms, but it’s pretty hard to do that for sunny Santa Barbara. Maybe the El Nino regime shift will change that later this year, and I can finally play around and dance in the rain again.

What do you hope to be doing five or 10 years out of graduate school?

James at a waterfall in Big Sur.I hope to still be doing some great research with some added public outreach. Will I be teaching at a big university? Presenting at national lectures or in Congress? Talking on TV or the radio about the next big topics in science? Who knows. But I’m excited for whatever the future will bring!

Do you have any advice for current grad students?

There’s so much great advice in previous Spotlights that it’s difficult to come up with something new! I would definitely say that interdisciplinary work really has the potential for amazing research. Different fields have their own ways of looking at problems, and while you might not necessarily use their methods, sometimes a new perspective is all you need to get through a difficult block that’s holding you back! Also, it’s a really good excuse to meet some amazing people outside of your field and make some new friends!