Round Eight of the Grad Slam produced four winners, who will advance to the Semifinals. They are, from left, James Allen of Marine Science; Lindsey Peavey of Bren; Haddy Kreie of Theater and Dance; and Alexander Pucher of Computer Science. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
About 80 people attended Round Eight, including 55 undergraduates from Associate Dean Don Lubach's class. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThursday, April 10, 5 to 6 p.m., Santa Rosa Formal Lounge.
Welcome to the review of the eighth round of the Grad Slam. Unlike previous rounds, this round set a precedent by sending four presenters to the Semifinal round. It was also different in that it was held in the lounge of an undergrad dormitory, giving undergraduates an opportunity to hear about graduate student research. More than 80 people attended this round, including 55 of those were undergraduates in Associate Dean Don Lubach's Education class.
The Basics
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). In this case, however, all top four presenters will be advancing to the Semifinal round.
Graduate Division Associate Dean Karen Myers addresses a packed Santa Rosa Formal Lounge for Round Eight of the Grad Slam. Credit: Patricia MarroquinKyle’s Picks
Best Dress: Haddy Kreie
Best Future in Politics: Alexander Pulcher
Best Visuals: James Allen
Funniest: Lindsey E. Peavey
Most Improved Title: “Sea Turtle Hunger Games” (changed from Lindsey Peavey’s original title of “Insights into the Trophic Roles of Eastern Pacific Olive Ridley Sea Turtles from Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis of Amino Acids”)
Judges’ Picks
James Allen (advances to Semifinal round)
James Allen talked about the use of satellites to study phytoplankton. Credit: Patricia MarroquinHaddy Kreie (advances to Semifinal round)
Lindsey Peavey (advances to Semifinal round)
Alexander Pucher (advances to Semifinal round)
Presentation Summaries
Measuring Cells from Space: Remote Sensing of Phytoplankton Size Distribution, James G. Allen, Marine Science
James said half of what we breathe comes from phytoplankton. Phytoplankton is also responsible for taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. However, we don’t know by how much. Scientists are measuring this by sailing around the oceans to help determine its role in climate change. However, there is an easier way to measure the carbon dioxide uptake by phytoplankton. Answer: Use satellites. Satellites can measure size and distribution of phytoplankton and measure the whole planet in a week to nine days.
Haddy Kreie will travel to Ouidah, Benin. To find out what she learned, she said, you'll have to attend Grad Slam 2015. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
Celebrating Mourning: Memorializations of Vodun and Slavery in West Africa, Haddy Kreie, Theater and Dance
Haddy showed popular images of voodoo and explained these images do not show a realistic portrayal of the religion or of black culture, making black culture hypersexualized. Her research investigates how these distorted images affect our perceptions of voodoo and black culture. Voodoo came from Africa, where there are now memorials to slavery in Africa and she will research if these memorials are exploitive and misrepresentative just like the popular media images of voodoo.
Numbers DO Lie: Rethinking Inequality and the “Achievement Gap,” Grayson Maas, Anthropology
Grayson stated that there is a so-called “achievement gap” in education between minorities and the majority culture. However, this achievement gap problem is in reality a framing problem. We frame the gap in terms of deficit explanations for individuals rather than pointing the finger at the inadequacy of the system that is biased against the non-majority culture. Ability groupings are often determined by the English ability level of students, which works against second-language speakers of English. So he will investigate how this ability grouping affects children’s success in school.
Lindsey Peavey talked about her research into sea turtles, and their importance for a healthy ecosystem. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
Sea Turtle Hunger Games, Lindsey E. Peavey, Bren
Alexander Pucher wants to make small local Cloud providers competitive again. Credit: Patricia MarroquinLindsey stated that she is a vegetarian but we wouldn’t know this unless we followed her around all day and observed what she are. However, an easier method would be to take a sample of her skin and test it. This method works for sea turtles too. Sea turtles also happen to be an important part of a healthy sea ecosystem. However, sea turtle numbers have declined. So she is studying sea turtles food habits, collecting and analyzing sea turtles skin tissue to determine their place in the food web. She discovered that Costa Rican turtles are eating the best. She will use this information to provide the best protection measures for all sea turtles in the future and improve the ecosystem.
Solon: Democratizing the Cloud, Alexander Pucher, Computer Science
Alexander wants to democratize the cloud. We all use the cloud every day by using email, Facebook, and Netflix. Many of our phone apps use the cloud to store information since our phone memories are so small. However, data centers that run the cloud are so expensive that only places like Google and Microsoft can own them. Therefore, they have more power in the market. Alexander wants to make small local providers competitive again. He wants to link up smaller data centers to provide more competition and make the market more democratic.
Anna Simon discussed her research into molecular machines. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
Mimicking Nature to Engineer Ultrasensitive Molecular Machines, Anna Simon, Biomolecular Science and Engineering
Anna stated that hemoglobin spreads oxygen around the body. Hemoglobin uses a mechanism known as cooperativity to be more efficient. This method of cooperativity could also be used to help detect toxins and pathogens. But we need to make molecular machines do this work. Since this field of research is new, these applications are decades in the future.
Disclaimer: Apologies to any presenters if I misrepresented your research. I only had three minutes to summarize.
For information on other events, visit the Graduate Student Showcase 2014 page.
Grayson Maas talked about his research into the so-called educational "achievement gap." Credit: Patricia Marroquin
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 speakers took questions from the audience while the judges deliberated. Credit: Patricia Marroquin