Grad Slam Round 2 participants take questions from the audience after their presentations. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
Round 2 speakers included, clockwise from top right, Lisa McAllister, Nicole Lesperance, and Micaela Morgan. Top left, Associate Dean Bruce Kendall congratulates Sarah Abdul-Wajid. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe presenters and their topics:- Sarah Abdul-Wajid, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology: “Using Sea Squirts to Find New Genetic Factors Controlling Birth Defects”
- Aileen Fullchange, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology: “The HEROES Project”
- Daniel Hieber, Linguistics: “Renaissance on the Bayou: Reviving the Chitimacha Language”
- Nicole Lesperance, Electrical and Computer Engineering: “Preventing Hardware Trojan Horses”
- Lisa McAllister, Anthropology: “Who Reaps the Rewards and Who Pays the Costs of Adolescent Reproduction: Insights from the Bolivian Amazon”
- Micaela Morgan, Education: “Improving STEM Engagement of Students in the 2-Year to 4-Year Higher Education Pipeline”
And the Round 2 winners are ...
Judges' Selections: Daniel Hieber and Sarah Abdul-Wajid.
People's Choice: Aileen Fullchange.
Daniel Hieber is helping a Bayou tribe revive the Chitimacha language, even down to developing educational software!
Sarah Abdul-Wajid works on brain defects in human and frog embryos. Her research provides insight into why one in 1,000 human embryos develop a certain brain defect and how science may help control it in the future. She opened with a Kim Kardashian family slide, and nicely tied in her microscopic research, humorously dubbing it as her "own reality TV."
Aileen Fullchange shared her insight from her work on "The HEROES Project." She told us about her former life as a middle school teacher, and her desire to help her students feel less angry, and more cooperative. She sees empathy as the solution. Her preliminary findings show increased empathy and prosocial behaviors, and decreased anger and aggression.
An excellent afternoon of Grad Slam 2015! Be sure to attend the next round (Round 3) on Tuesday at the Engineering Science Building, Room 1001, from 11 a.m. to noon. The full Grad Slam 2015 schedule can be found here.
Round 2 winners are, from left, Aileen Fullchange; Sarah Abdul-Wajid; and Daniel Hieber. Credit: Patricia Marroquin