Umi Hoshijima answers a question from the audience while other presenters from Semifinal Round 2 listen. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
Here's what you missed at the 2015 Grad Slam Semifinal Round 2 on Tuesday afternoon, which took place in the Multipurpose Room of the Student Resource Building.
Sabrina Liu spoke about the power of hope. Credit: Patricia MarroquinSemifinal Round 2 featured nine crowd favorites (aka "The People's Choice") chosen from the eight preliminary rounds. Sadly, only two of these favorites could advance for a chance to be crowned Grad Slam Champion and Supreme Ruler of the UCSB Grad Student Universe.
Here are the worthy contenders and their titillating topics.
- Ty Brandt, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management: “Why Study Snow from the Beach?” Ty discussed how if we combine recent advances that use airborne snow observatory data with eco-hydrologic models, we might be able to reduce river-runoff forecast uncertainty, thereby improving the chances of maximizing the use of California's fresh water resources.
- Aileen Fullchange, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology: “The HEROES Project.” Aileen's presentation focused on empathy, its importance, and ways to increase it. Specifically, she talked about the development of an empathy-based intervention, known as the HEROES project (Harnessing Empathy Results in Opportunities for Everyday Solutions).
- Abel Gustafson, Communication: “Predicting Election Outcomes using Wikipedia.” Abel demonstrated how the communication patterns of Internet users using sites like Wikipedia can predict the outcome of United States political elections with greater accuracy than the traditional prediction models that are made from public opinion polls.
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Umi Hoshijima discussed kelp forests and global ocean change. Credit: Patricia MarroquinUmihiko Hoshijima, Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology: “Kelp Forests on Acid: Local Climate Change Mitigation in a Changing Ocean." Umi talked about how global ocean change is a global problem: one that is difficult to mitigate or manage on a local scale. He showed how kelp forests and seagrasses could locally mitigate the effects of ocean acidification and hypoxia and what this meant for biology and coastal management.- Richard Huskey, Communication: “Using Brains to Change Minds.” Richard's talk focused on the neuropsychological process of persuasion. He discussed how brain-imaging data can be used to improve persuasive message design for high-risk people.
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Aileen Fullchange talked about empathy and the HEROES project. Credit: Patricia MarroquinSabrina Liu, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology: “The Power of Hope: First Year Students' Adjustment to College Amidst Tragedy." Sabrina explored various psychosocial predictors of college adjustment, such as hope and depression, in first-year students' success. She compared these factors' influence in a typical year versus a high-stress year in which there was an event of mass violence on campus.- Ian McCullough, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management: “A Last Stand? Will California's Ponderosa Pine Forests Survive Climate Change?” Ian talked about how droughts, warming temperatures, and shrinking snow pack pose threats to California's iconic mountain forests. To predict what the future holds for one of California's most ecologically and economically important tree species, he used tree-rings to understand a range of climate change scenarios.
- Lakshmanan Nataraj, Electrical and Computer Engineering: “Photographing Computer Programs to Identify Malicious Software.” Lakshmanan talked about stopping malware. His research looked at computer programs in a completely different way: as digital photographs. His programs looked for patterns in these images, similar to how we would look for patterns in our daily photos, and then trained a system using Artificial Intelligence to identify malicious software programs.
- Ken Sterling, Education: “Imagine a Reality TV Show with a Boss Handing a Scan-Tron Form to an Employee." Ken's talk focused on the discussion of high-stakes testing, multiple choice test forms, and the "real world" and how it caused anxiety. He contrasted these high anxiety methods to the benefit of students participating in groups with project-based, hands-on learning.
After deliberating, the judges tapped two worthy contenders to advance to the Grad Slam Final Round this Friday, April 17, at 3 p.m. in Corwin Pavilion.
And the Semifinal Round 2 winners are ...
Abel Gustafson
Lakshmanan Nataraj
Fight to the last, my friends!
Kyle's Kudos:
Ian McCullough told the audience that he's not a tree hugger, but he might take one out for a coffee. Credit: Patricia MarroquinBest Accent (Again): Ty Brandt
Best Joke: Ian McCullough ("I'm not a tree hugger. I might shake its hand or take it out for a coffee.")
Best Heckler Handler: Ken Sterling (Who wants a kid who's average? There's one in every crowd.")
Best Pocket Square: Umihiko Hoshijima
Best Salesperson: Lakshmanan Nataraj ("The future of cyber security is right here!)
Best Use of Wikipedia: Abel Gustafson
Most Hopeful: Sabrina Liu
Most Interactive: Aileen Fullchange
Most Polite: Richard Huskey
The winners of Semifinal Round 2 (the People's Choice winners), who will advance to the Finals, are, from left, Lakshmanan Nataraj (Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Abel Gustafson (Communication). Credit: Patricia Marroquin