Watch past Grad Slam presentations and news stories to get inspired, learn about innovative and impactful work, and develop your own public speaking style.
Grad Slam: Research as Story Documentary
Finalist Videos
Videos are in the presentation order used on April 11, 2024.
Mary Ahern, Nutritional Sciences, "Puzzle Pieces of Precision Nutrition: The Science of Personalizing Your Diet" (2nd Place Award Winner)
Mateo Pomilia, Native American Linguistics and Languages, "A'ingae (Amazon) Language Vitality for Survivance"
Taylor Simmons, Environmental Health Sciences, "Southern Arizona Healthy Stomach Project"
Sankha Subhra Mahanti, Geosciences, "Earthquake Monitoring with Artificial Intelligence" (1st Place Award Winner)
Kara Miller, Pharmacology and Toxicology, "Are We Ovary-acting to Chemical Exposures?"
Nathalia Vega Santiago, Planetary Sciences, "Unlocking Extremoverse: Behind the Scenes of a Pokemon-inspired Game" (3rd Place Award Winner)
Full Event Recording
Finalist Videos
Videos are in the presentation order used on March 30, 2023
- Collin Gillespie, Natural Resource Management, "Investigating the Water Use Patterns of Riparian Mesquite"
- Grace Heffernon, Biomedical Engineering, "Shining Light on Genetic Cardiomyopathy"
- Kevin Hurtado, Pharmacology and Toxicology, "Is a World Without Acute Kidney Injury Attainable?"
- Enrique Olivares-Pelayo, Geography, "No Way Out: Embedded Geographies of the Carceral State"
- Abigail Schwarz, Neuroscience, "Cannabis Terpenes Enhance Opioid Based Pain Therapy"
- Gabby Wen, Applied Intercultural Arts Research, "Creative Aging for Older Adults Living With Dementia"
Collin Gillespie, Natural Resource Management, "Investigating the Water Use Patterns of Riparian Mesquite"
Grace Heffernon, Biomedical Engineering, "Shining Light on Genetic Cardiomyopathy"
First Place Winner for Best Recorded Video Presentation Award
Kevin Hurtado, Pharmacology and Toxicology, "Is a World Without Acute Kidney Injury Attainable?"
Third Place Grand Prize Winner
Enrique Olivares-Pelayo, Geography, "No Way Out: Embedded Geographies of the Carceral State"
Abigail Schwarz, Neuroscience, "Cannabis Terpenes Enhance Opioid Based Pain Therapy"
First Place Grand Prize Winner
Gabby Wen, Applied Intercultural Arts Research, "Creative Aging for Older Adults Living With Dementia"
Second Place Grand Prize Winner
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Finalist Videos
Videos are in the presentation order used on April 15, 2022
- Berte Reyes, Rhetoric, Composition & the Teaching of English, "The Smart Ways to Play at Hate"
- Sahana Srivatsha, Neuroscience, "Neural Communication in Aging and Memory"
- Kiana Anderson, English Literature, "Ceremonial Storytelling: Recentering and applying indigenous protocols within academic research"
- Grace Heffernon, Biomedical Engineering, "Shining Light on Heart Disease"
- Lorenza Sharpe, Entrepreneurship, "How I Met My Pet: Connecting adoptable pets to online seekers through Augmented Reality"
- Sara Djurich, Physiological Sciences, "Mathematical Modeling of Neurovascular Coupling"
Berte Reyes, Rhetoric, Composition & the Teaching of English, "The Smart Ways to Play at Hate"
Sahana Srivatsha, Neuroscience, "Neural Communication in Aging and Memory"
Second Place Grand Prize Winner and Third Place Winner for Best Recorded Video Presentation Award
Kiana Anderson, English Literature, "Ceremonial Storytelling: Recentering and applying indigenous protocols within academic research"
First Place Grand Prize Winner
Grace Heffernon, Biomedical Engineering, "Shining Light on Heart Disease"
Lorenza Sharpe, Entrepreneurship, "How I Met My Pet: Connecting adoptable pets to online seekers through Augmented Reality"
Third Place Grand Prize Winner
Sara Djurich, Physiological Sciences, "Mathematical Modeling of Neurovascular Coupling"
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Finalist Videos
Videos are in the presentation order used on April 10, 2021.
- Emmy Tisdel, School of Music, College of Fine Arts
- Adrienne Kinney, Applied Mathematics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, Graduate College
- Paula Ugalde, School of Anthropology, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
- Marwan Abduljawad, Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Madeline Gauthier, Physiological Sciences Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, Graduate College
- Ashley Guest, Clinical Translational Sciences Graduate Program, College of Medicine
Emmy Tisdel, School of Music, College of Fine Arts
Adrienne Kinney, Applied Mathematics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, Graduate College
2nd Place Award Winner and Winner of Arizona Institutes for Resilience' Best Environmental Presentation
Paula Ugalde, School of Anthropology, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Marwan Abduljawad, Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
1st Place Award Winner
Madeline Gauthier, Physiological Sciences Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, Graduate College
Ashley Guest, Clinical Translational Sciences Graduate Program, College of Medicine
3rd Place Award Winner
Semifinalist Videos
The semifinals consisted of two groups that presented simultaneously in two Zoom meetings. Three presenters from each group moved forward to the Final Round.
Semifinals Group 1
Presentation Order
- Davina Dobbins, Eller College of Management, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, College of Science, Office of Instruction and Assessment
- James Hollister, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Ashley Guest, Clinical Translational Studies
- David Cid, Mexican American Studies
- Mruthyunjay Kubendran Sumathi, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Celeste Atkins, Higher Education
- Brooke Sykes, School of Plant Sciences
- Marwan Abduljawad, Chemical Engineering
- Adrienne Kinney, Applied Mathematics
- Carlie Felion, Nursing
Semifinals Group 2
Presentation Order
- Tabitha Green, Department of Child Health
- James McKenzie, Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies
- Angell Kim, Public Administration
- Michelle Herridge, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Emmy Tisdel, School of Music
- Madeline Gauthier, Department of Physiology
- Paula Ugalde, School of Anthropology
- Lisa Zieman, Department of Geosciences
- Kayla Frost, Pharmacology and Toxicology
- Austin Cruz, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Davina Dobbins, Eller College of Management, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, College of Science, Office of Instruction and Assessment
James Hollister, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Ashley Guest, Clinical Translational Studies
David Cid, Mexican American Studies
Mruthyunjay Kubendran Sumathi, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Awaiting consent to share Semifinals Video.
Celeste Atkins, Higher Education
Winner of the College of Education's Best College of Education Student Presenter Award
Brooke Sykes, School of Plant Sciences
Awaiting consent to share the video.
Marwan Abduljawad, Chemical Engineering
Adrienne Kinney, Applied Mathematics
Carlie Felion, Nursing
Awaiting consent to share the video.
Tabitha Green, Department of Child Health
Awaiting consent to share the video.
James McKenzie, Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies
Winner of the College of Education's Best College of Education Student Presenter Award
Angell Kim, Public Administration
Michelle Herridge, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Awaiting consent to share the video.
Emmy Tisdel, School of Music
Awaiting consent to share the video.
Madeline Gauthier, Department of Physiology
Paula Ugalde, School of Anthropology
Lisa Zieman, Department of Geosciences
Awaiting consent to share the video.
Kayla Frost, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Awaiting consent to share the video.
Austin Cruz, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Winner of the College of Science's Best College of Science Student Presenter Award
Awaiting consent to share the video.
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Finalist Videos
Finalist videos are in the presentation order used on April 2, 2019.
- Jennifer Duchschere, Psychology
- John Alexander Erwin, Genetics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program and James E. Rogers College of Law
- Jonathan Credo, Clinical Translational Sciences
- Diana Githu, School of Natural Resources and the Environment
- Lauren Meeks, Nutritional Sciences
- Sonia Delphin Pérez, School of Natural Resources and the Environment
Jennifer Duchschere, Psychology
John Alexander Erwin, Genetics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program and James E. Rogers College of Law
Jonathan Credo, Clinical Translational Sciences
2nd Place Award Winner
Diana Githu, School of Natural Resources and the Environment
1st Place Award Winner and Best Environment and Social Justice Presentation Award Winner
Lauren Meeks, Department of Nutritional Sciences
3rd Place Award Winner
Sonia Delphin Pérez, School of Natural Resources and the Environment
Performing and Creative Arts Competition Winners Performances
Performances are in listed in alphabetical order by last name with their program and the title of their performance. The students listed won the first Grad Slam Performing and Creative Arts Competition on March 30, 2019. In addition to winning a cash prize, they are awarded the opportunity to perform as part of the Grad Slam 2019 final round. The performances below are from the Grad Slam final round.
- Victoria Arredondo, Special Education, Performance of Interspace
- Antonio Coronado, Communication, Performance of Lost in Transit
- Francis Larson, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, Performance of Masculinity in C#, 1st Movement - "Love"
- Jacob Ransom, Percussion Performance, Performance of Last Night on Mars
Victoria Arredondo, Special Education, Performance of Interspace
Antonio Coronado, Communication, Performance of Lost in Transit
Francis Larson, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, Performance of Masculinity in C#, 1st Movement - "Love"
Jacob Ransom, Percussion Performance, Performance of Last Night on Mars
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Finalist Videos
Finalist videos are in the presentation order used on April 3, 2018. The grand prize winners went on to represent the University of Arizona at the Southwest Showdown 3-Minute Grad Slam to compete with presenters from Northern Arizona University , University of Nevada, Reno, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
- Mithun Paul, Dept. of Computer Science, College of Science
- Lusine Gomtsian, Dept. Medical Pharmacology, College of Medicine - Tucson
- Valerie Madera-Garcia, Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
- Yiyi Huang, Dept. of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Science
- Quentin Raffaelli, Dept. of Psychology, College of Science
- Travis Sawyer, College of Optical Sciences
Mithun Paul, Dept. of Computer Science, College of Science
Lusine Gomtsian, Dept. Medical Pharmacology, College of Medicine - Tucson
1st Place Award Winner
Valerie Madera-Garcia, Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
3rd Place Award Winner and Best Environmental Presentation Award Winner
Yiyi Huang, Dept. of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Science
Quentin Raffaelli, Dept. of Psychology, College of Science
Travis Sawyer, College of Optical Sciences
2nd Place Award Winner and People's Choice Award Winner
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Finalist Videos
Finalist Presentations in presentation order
The top four presenters went on to represent the UA at the 2017 Arizona 3-Minute Grad Slam. The top presenter also represents the UA at the Western Association of Graduate Schools 3MT competition in Spring 2018.
- Lourena Arone, Plant Pathology, Impacts of farming practices on the fates of aflatoxin in the environment
- Sara Khosravi, Systems and Industrial Engineering, SmartWalk Assistant for Disabled Pedestrians
- Samantha Reznik, Clinical Psychology, Developing a new intervention for treatment-resistant depression
- Joan Palmiter Bajorek, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching GIDP, Pronunciation Technology: Clear Speech and Empowerment
- Tim Frost, Biomedical Engineering GIDP, Accelerating drug discovery with microfluidic models
- Lora Key, History, Mexican Americans in the World War II Era
Lourena Arone, Plant Pathology, Impacts of farming practices on the fates of aflatoxin in the environment
People's Choice, Honorable Mention, and Best Environmental Presentation Award Winner
Sara Khosravi, Systems and Industrial Engineering, SmartWalk Assistant for Disabled Pedestrians
Samantha Reznik, Clinical Psychology, Developing a new intervention for treatment-resistant depression
Second Place Finalist
Joan Palmiter Bajorek, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching GIDP, Pronunciation Technology: Clear Speech and Empowerment
Tim Frost, Biomedical Engineering GIDP, Accelerating drug discovery with microfluidic models
First Place Finalist
Lora Key, History, Mexican Americans in the World War II Era
Third Place Finalist
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Finalist Videos
Link to related UA News Article by La Monica Everett-Haynes "Connected-Vehicles Visionary Wins Grad Slam"
The videos are presented in order of presentation on the day of the event. The top three presenters and the Honorable Mention qualified to represent the UA at the statewide Arizona 3-Minute Grad Slam on April 16, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona.
- Adam Watson, Cancer Biology GIDP, Bad to the bone: how tumor stiffness corrupts breast cancer cells
- Andisheh Ranjbari, Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Flexpress: A New Intercity Public Transit Service (3rd Place Winner)
- Scott Daniel, Molecular and Cellular Biology, What can poo do for you? (Honorable Mention Winner)
- Joshua Scholl, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Are plants of the Southwest hedging their bets for survival?
- Alejandro Martinez Chibly, Cancer Biology GIDP, Saving lives one salivary gland at a time (2nd Place Winner and People's Choice Award Winner)
- Shayan Khoshmagham, Systems and Industrial Engineering, Connected Vehicles - The Future of Transportation (1st Place Winner)
Adam Watson, Doctoral Student, Cancer Biology GIDP, Finalist
Andisheh Ranjbari, Doctoral Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Third Place Finalist
Scott Daniel, Doctoral Student, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Honorable Mention Finalist
Joshua Scholl, Doctoral Student, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Finalist
Alejandro Martinez Chibly, Doctoral Student, Cancer Biology GIDP, 2nd Place Finalist and People's Choice Award Winner
Shayan Khoshmagham, Doctoral Student, Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering, 1st Place Finalist
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Finalist Videos
The following videos showcase the six finalists of Grad Slam 2015. All videos were created by the University of Arizona Libraries, and are presented in order of appearance on April 6, 2015.
- Matthew Bronnimann, Department of Immunobiology, Tied for 3rd Place Overall
- Rachel LaMantia, College of Architecture, 1st Place Overall
- Emily Mackelprang, Department of Psychology, 2nd Place Overall
- Victoria Moses, School of Anthropology, Finalist
- Nina Patrick, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tied for 3rd Place Overall
- Jasmine Sears, College of Optical Sciences, Finalist