2015 UC Merced GradSLAM! Challenge Wraps Up With The UC Systemwide Grad Slam Competition

Submitted by csnyder4 on May. 5, 2015

Our 2015 UC Merced GradSLAM! Winners

First Place:

Nathaniel Bogie - Environmental Systems

Runners-Up:

Joannee Zumkehr - Quantitative and Systems Biology

Holly Rus - Psychological Sciences

What is it?

GradSLAM! offers Ph.D students the opportunity to explain their research topic or creative work to the general audience and non-specialist judges in three minutes. It is designed to increase graduate students’ communication skills and their capacity to effectively present their work with poise and confidence.

GradSLAM! showcases our graduate students’ talents and celebrates UC Merced’s rich, diverse research projects. It is an opportunity to share our accomplishments with the campus, friends of UC Merced, the local community, and the broader public.

2015 GradSLAM! Schedule

UC Merced GradSLAM! Qualifying Rounds - March 3, 2015

The 2015 GradSLAM! qualifying rounds were held on March 3, 2015 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. 32 graduate students competed for one of 10 spots in the final round. Our finalists were:

Nathaniel Bogie - Environmental Systems
Katie Coburn - Psychological Sciences
Jason Davis - Applied Mathematics
Jennifer Mendiola - Psychological Sciences
Portia Mira - Quantitative and Systems Biology
Jessica Ross - Cognitive and Information Sciences
Michael Stobb - Applied Mathematic
Holly Rus - Psychological Sciences
Maryam Tabatabaeian - Cognitive and Information Sciences
Joannee Zumkehr - Quantitative and Systems Biology

UC Merced GradSLAM! Finals - April 7, 2015

The 2015 GradSLAM! finals took place on April 7, 2015 in the California Room. Our UC Merced GradSLAM! campus Champion and the winner of the $2,000 prize was Nathaniel Bogie of Environmental Systems. The runners-up were Holly Rus of Psychological Sciences and Joannee Zumkehr of Quantitative and Systems Biology. Each of the runners-up received $1,000. The remainder of the participants were awarded $250 each in recognition of their hard work and excellent performances.

UC Systemwide Grad Slam Competition - May 4, 2015

The first-ever UC systemwide Grad Slam was hosted by University President Janet Napolitano in Oakland, CA on May 4, 2015. The event was live-streamed in the Grad Pad (SSB 350) from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 10 campus Champions — one from each UC campus — competed for the "Slammie" and campus bragging rights for 2015. The winners were as follows:

First Place - Ashley Fong, UC Irvine, "Stem Cells: How to Mend a Broken Heart"

Second Place - Daniel Hieber, UC Santa Barbara, "Renaissance on the Bayou: Reviving the Chitimacha Language"

Third Place - Alex Phan, UC San Diego, "Intraocular Pressure Sensor: Fight for Sight"

Prizes

More than a competition, the GradSLAM! is a celebration of the accomplishments of our graduate students. The top-ten qualifiers received a $25 gift certificate to the Campus Store and the opportunity to attend a luncheon with Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education Marjorie Zatz on March 19, 2015. All ten winners of the qualifying GradSLAM! rounds also received personalized training sessions with experienced instructors from the Merced Playhouse to prepare for the final round.

The first place winner of the GradSLAM! Finals received $2,000 and the honor of representing UC Merced at the University of California system-wide Grad Slam in Oakland, CA on May 4, 2015. The two runners-up received $1,000.

Final Round Rules

Your presentations should be saved in PowerPoint (PPT) format. All presentations must be saved as "firstname_lastname_GradSlam" and emailed to grad@ucmerced.edu by 5pm on March 31, 2015. Note that presentation materials are optional.
You may only use PowerPoint slides (no Prezi or other presentation formats).
Maximum of 3 slides, exclusive of title slide that will have your name, graduate program and the title of your presentation.
No slide transitions, animations or 'movement' of any description are allowed.
Electronic media (e.g. sound or video files) are permitted with prior approval from the event coordinators.
Props such as costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment, etc. are permitted with prior approval from the event coordinators. Any props should require minimal set-up and not produce a mess.
Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
Presentations must be conducted from the stage.
The whole presentation must be limited to 3 minutes. Any presenter exceeding the 3-minute mark will lose points for going past the allotted time.
The presentation time will commence from the moment the presenter starts talking.
The research being presented must be related to your own graduate research at UC Merced.
Students invited to participate in the UC Merced final round or the system wide final competition must present on the same subject matter.
The decision of the panel of judges is final.