In just three short, action-packed minutes, SFU grad students were challenged to present the sum of their graduate work — no easy task. The SFU Three Minute Thesis Finals were held last Monday, March 10 in the SFU theatre.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a competition in which graduate students, from any program, prepare and present competing theses in a maximum of three minutes. Although it originated at the University of Queensland in 2008, at least 60 universities across the world have participated, with SFU being the fourth Canadian university to hold a 3MT competition.

The winner as picked by the judges, including SFU President Andrew Petter, will go on to represent SFU at the Western Regional 3MT Competition held in Calgary. First place also received a $1,000 prize, with second place earning $500 and third place receiving recognition.

One victor was chosen by the crowd (the People’s Choice winner) and was awarded $250.

Thirteen contestants entered the final round of the competition. It opened with Kimberly White, a Canadian geography student, who presented a thesis on how natural disturbances — specifically pine beetle infestations and wildfires — affect the lives of birds. She presented evidence that, after a wildfire, the bird population increases, at least in the short term. This is due possibly to increased exposure of insects after wildfires.

Though 3MT originated at the University of Queensland, at least 60 universities across the world have participated.

The contestants presented a diverse array of subjects, with topics ranging from biological studies to social issues. For instance, archaeology grad, Camina Manychief, presented on the possible benefits of cradleboards — a traditional device for helping mothers care for their babies — to the Blackfoot identity.

One thesis, by Vanessa Kong, on the importance of designing better public washrooms, suggested increased security in not only female washrooms, but male and unisex washrooms, so as not to discriminate.

Although contestants were limited to three minutes for their initial presentations, they were able to answer any questions related to their theses afterwards. However, the question period was not evaluated by the judges.

Some of the best questions came from fellow competitors. After Dominic Tresevan did a presentation on the difficulty of undergraduate programs, specifically STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) faculties, Pradeep Reddy Ramana, a fellow presenter, questioned whether dropout rates were related to economic status.

In the end, final presenter Aviva Finkelstein, won first place for her thesis on portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis —— the only “100% non-destructive” and cost effective way to determine the origin of artifacts. Used on human bones, it could help native families locate their ancestors.

“This method has yet to be tested on human remains, and that’s where my research comes in,” she explained. “I have had some promising results,” she added, remarking on the machine’s accuracy.

Allison Cornell and Bekka Brodie, both American biologists, took home second and third place, respectively, with Pradeep Reddy Ramana taking home the People’s Choice award.