Adrift Lab PhD Candidate a Finalist in UTAS 3MT Competition

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an annual competition where PhD candidates present their research in three minutes or less in a language appropriate for non-specialist audiences. The competition was developed at the University of Queensland in 2008 by Emeritus Professor Alan Lawson who was inspired by the three minute egg timers used by Queenslanders for their showers during a severe draught. It has grown substantially over the years and competitions are held at over 900 universities throughout Australia and the world. Each year, universities are invited to hold their own individual 3MT competitions, with the overall winner going forward to the Asia-Pacific 3MT competition.

Due to COVID-19 and the ensuing restrictions on social and public gatherings, the decision was made to move the 2020 3MT to a virtual format. All competitors were required to enter a video submission.

Megan Grant, Adrift Lab PhD candidate, submitted a video for this year’s UTAS competition and we’re thrilled to say – she’s been chosen as a finalist!! During her 3 minutes, Megan highlighted some of the results from her PhD chapter exploring the plastics deposited on Lord Howe Island by Flesh-footed Shearwaters. As always, this research would not be possible without the support of Dr Ian Hutton and the Lord Howe Island community. In fact, it was Dr Hutton’s discovery of a shearwater carcass with plastics behind the ribcage that sparked this very research.

Check out Megan’s entry here. Importantly, voting for the People’s Choice is open from THIS FRIDAY TO MONDAY ONLY (5/9 – 7/9) via THIS LINK, so we invite everyone to get voting! The People’s Choice winner, as well as the overall UTAS winner and runner up, will be announced on September 8.