The winners of Grad Slam Preliminary Round Three, who will go on to the Semifinals, are, from left, Michelle Oyewole of Geography and Don Daniels of Linguistics. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
Tuesday, April 8, 11 a.m. to noon, Engineering Science Building 1001.
Here is what you may have missed at the third round of the Grad Slam.
What’s Grad Slam, you say?
The Glad Slam features 3-minute presentations of student research.
Faye Walker of Chemistry and Biochemistry discussed "On-Site Healthcare by Sleight of Hand." Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe best two presenters from the preliminary round advance to the Semifinal round (and the best four receive a $50 gift card for the UCSB bookstore).
Kyle’s Picks
Best Dressed: Christopher Walker
Honorable Mention Best Socks: Faye Walker (flowers)
Best Visuals: Jenna Joo
Fastest Talker: Faye Walker (2:45)
Funniest Talk: Don Daniels
Judges’ Picks
Don Daniels (advances to Semifinal round)
Michelle Oyewole (advances to Semifinal round)
Nicole Leung
Maha Alabduljalil of Computer Science listens during a question-and-answer session. Credit: Patricia MarroquinMatthew Roy
Presentation Summaries
Partition-Based Similarity Search, Maha Alabduljalil, Computer Science
Maha stated that examples of similarity search can be seen in what Google and Yahoo do, the collaborative filtering that connects people with similar interests, and spam detection. However, the problem with similarity search is that it has a great complexity: the more information one has to scan the longer it takes. Her contribution is to how to sort and partition documents and identify dissimilar partitions to increase the execution time.
Reconstructing Proto-Sogeram, Don Daniels, Linguistics
Don explained that every language family is derived from one language. For example, Romance languages are derived from Latin. Without written documents, one can still trace language development by cataloguing living spoken languages. In Papa Guinea, he is reconstructing the Proto-Sogeram language by looking at the nine languages that were derived from it. Unfortunately, these languages are dying, so the work is important to do.
Understanding Second Language Acquisition from a Sociocognitive Perspective, Jenna Joo, Education
Jenna showed an example of a student and tutor speaking in a classroom and explained how language learning is not just a private process, but also takes place within a community. When we focus on an individual learner we are missing out on a lot of the language learning process. Learning language involves multiple people. It also involves aspects such as facial expressions, tone, etc. Language learning should have a new framework that demonstrates that it is a highly public, shared, and co-constructed endeavor.
The Origin of Ostracod Bioluminescence, Nicole Leung, Biomolecular Science and Engineering
Nicole Leung of Biomolecular Science and Engineering spoke about "The Origin of Ostracod Bioluminescence." Credit: Patricia MarroquinNicole explained that a major challenge for biologists is explaining how such complex human traits as eyes are formed. In biology, genes correspond to single traits and multiple genes make complex traits. To study complex traits, she looked at bioluminescent crustaceans to understand how multiple genes make complex traits like bioluminescence.
She was able to identify the genes for this trait and was able to re-create the light in the lab. Possible applications for creating light in the body are whole animal imaging that will be both non-invasive and identify cells that are in diseased states.
Effects of Compost Application Rate on Area- and Yield-Scaled Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Michelle Oyewole, Geography
Michelle showed images of two fields of strawberries that looked the same, however one field contributed more to greenhouse emissions. The difference was the compost used. She will research compost to understand emission rates by looking at several fields with different composts and measure their emission rates. Then in the lab she will examine the compost to see which materials are responsible for the most emissions. This is a step in including agriculture into making a better environment.
Hansel and Gretel at the Piano: Children’s Music and Socialization, Matthew Roy, Music
Matthew Roy of Music spoke about children's music and socialization. Credit: Patricia MarroquinMatthew showed examples of children’s music, such as Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers, and the song “if you’re happy and you know it.” Young music is a socializing and authoritative force for children. Pressure is placed on the adult downward on children and never the other way around. Matthew looked at Robert Schumann’s compositions for children’s and adults’ music. Schumann gave each piece a descriptive title that described the socialization people go through from childish (playing with toys) to adulthood (work).
Untimely Ecologies, Christopher A. Walker, English
Christopher showed an image of the effects of climate change on Earth. To understand climate change, we need to understand how we are individually impacted. The best way to do this is narrative. Narrative can explain complex stories of how an individual relates to the environment. Literary ecologies, or feedback loops, can be used to explain the interactions between humans and environment. By studying narrative forms, we can show untimely ecologies: impacts over a long period of time.
On-site Healthcare by Sleight of Hand, Faye Walker, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Faye stated that mobile phones have an 89% penetration in the developing world. Now these phones can be part of a new mobile health care system. One can use phone apps to follow health directions, use cameras to analyze results, and the screen to receive a diagnosis quickly. This can be done with tropical diseases, and the phone can even do a better analysis than humans for some diseases, in which one must count microbes.
Disclaimer: Apologies to any presenters if I misrepresented your research. I only had three minutes to summarize.
Competitors in Grad Slam Preliminary Round Three take questions from the audience while the judges deliberated. Credit: Patricia Marroquin