2021 Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition Winners: from Microplastics to Philosophy

by Margaret Savoie

Wontor And the winner is … Kendall Wontor! This year’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) overall winner is Kendall Wontor, a doctoral student in chemistry. Wontor’s research focuses on microplastics in oysters, with several different aspects to her overall research project.

Wontor spent most of her childhood in Texas, but most recently lived in Hawaii before relocating to Mississippi. Her time in Hawaii sparked her interest in microplastics.

“My favorite things to do were going to the beach and sailing,” said Wontor. “Whenever I would do either, it was pretty common to see small pieces of plastic in the sand and out in the ocean being tossed around in the waves. As a chemist, that really got me interested in the breakdown process of plastics and the problem of microplastic pollution.”

“Microplastics are a diverse suite of contaminants with different polymers, additives, sizes and morphologies,” explained Wontor’s advisor Dr. James Cizdziel, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and coordinator of forensic chemistry. “Microplastics can also attract other pollutants, such as heavy metals, potentially introducing them into the food chain as the plastic is caught on gills or mistaken for prey,” he added.

The first aspect of Wontor’s research is focused on developing new methods to extract microplastics from oyster tissue, and this was the main point of her 3MT presentation. An example of an extraction method is sonication. “By developing and validating this extraction method, I hope to increase the analysis speed and sustainability of microplastics research,” said Wontor.

In the second aspect of her research, Wontor uses chemical digestion to analyze oysters from ten sites across the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Here, Wontor is looking for any differences in the numbers, sizes, shapes, and polymer types of microplastics present in the oysters from the different sites. Wontor is also dissecting the larger oysters found to see if the microplastics are localizing in specific tissues, such as the gills, mantle, digestive system, or abductor muscle/heart.

“Microplastics are abundant in the Mississippi River and Mississippi Sound. Oysters are exposed to these small plastic particles. This is a concern because oysters are filter-feeders and the microplastics may interfere with oyster biology. Oysters are a foundational species in the Gulf and an economic resource to the region,” explained Dr. Cizdziel.

Wontor is no stranger to presenting her research. She presented “Microplastics in Oysters from the Mississippi Sound” at the National Environmental Monitoring Conference in a special session on “Analyzing Microplastics in the Environment: Striving to Better Assess Occurrence, Fate and Effects.”

Wontor will represent the UM Grad School at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools’ 3MT competition in North Carolina in February 2022.

The Graduate School is happy also to announce our 3MT winners for specific categories. They are as follows:

People’s Choice

This year’s People Choice Award Winner is Savannah Draud, a biological science doctoral student from New York.

Draud’s research centers on symbiosis, which is the living together of different organisms. Draud specifically studies the symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi found on their roots called mycorrhizal fungi. With her research, Draud aims to understand how a specific plant-fungal relationship developed in a certain area of the world, to unravel the environmental correlates of this relationship and to explain how this specific symbiotic relationship may have influenced the distribution and evolution of the Pasqueflower plant.

“My goal for the future is to become a professor and researcher at an R1 institution much like the University of Mississippi.” Draud continued, “While I am passionate about biology and my personal research interest, I am also passionate about sharing those interests and encouraging others to pursue the questions that make them excited about the world around them.”

Tied for First Place Doctoral

Siddhi Korgaonkar, doctoral candidate in pharmacy administration from Mumbai, India, and Sumeet Kulkarni, a doctoral candidate in physics from Pune, India, tied for first place in the Doctoral category of this year’s competition.

Korgaonkar’s PhD dissertation is about understanding cancer-related financial toxicity experienced by individuals diagnosed with cancer and their families in the US. Cancer treatment is expensive, and patients may face financial hardship not only due to their medical bills but also from other expenses such as traveling for treatment and missed employment. Financial toxicity is a term used to describe these financial struggles and the ensuing psychological distress experienced by cancer patients and their families. Korgaonkar’s research focuses on exploring different aspects of this issue and how the process of financial toxicity unfolds over the course of cancer treatment for patients or even into their survivorship.

“I was interested in cancer-related financial toxicity while working as a clinical pharmacist at Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital in Mumbai,” said Korgaonkar. “I witnessed cancer patients and their families struggling to make ends meet while receiving cancer treatment.”

After moving to the US, Korgaonkar noticed that this was a global problem. Korgaonkar is thankful for the opportunity to explore this issue further because of the research knowledge and skills acquired during her graduate education.

Sumeet Kulkarni

Sumeet Kulkarni studies black holes. He specifically studies pairs of black holes that spiral and smash into each other, giving out tiny ripples in space and time that are known as gravitational waves. The study of gravitational wave signals from black holes helps to understand different properties of the black holes such as how heavy they are, whether they are spinning, how they form, and more.

“I am really thrilled to win among what was an outstanding group of finalists!” said Kulkarni. He continued, “I tried an unconventional presentation with a completely blank slide but found ways to tie it into my story and I am very glad it came off well.”

First Place Master’s

Emily Morphis, a communication sciences and disorders (CSD) master’s student from Belmont, MS, won first place in the master’s division of this year’s 3MT competition.

Morphis conducts a meta-analysis of current research about the development of speech problems, specifically stuttering, in individuals with Parkinson’s disease who have undergone deep brain stimulation surgery. Deep brain stimulation surgery helps reduce motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease such as tremors. However, even though the surgery improves motor symptoms, it can cause new speech problems. The implications of Morphis’ meta-analysis will hopefully lead to more research into evidence-based speech-language pathology practice for people who have an acquired neurogenic stutter.

“After graduating in May, I hope to complete a clinical fellowship in a setting that allows me to continue researching and practicing with adults with neurogenic communicative disorders,” said Morphis.

Second Place Master’s

This year’s second place master’s 3MT Winner is Dakota Layton, a philosophy master’s student from Huntsville, AL.

Layton’s research focuses on analyzing how the spread of fake news contributes to the problem of truth-decay and how this problem infringed on an idea of Freedom. Expanding the understanding of Freedom is one of many steps needed to address the problem of truth-decay.

“We must expand our understanding of Freedom, not just for the purpose of addressing truth-decay, but for advancing the Common Good, understood as the happiness and well-being of all of our fellow citizens with whom all of us share the gift of civic friendship,” stated Layton.

Layton commented, “I am proud to have presented my work for my fellow Graduate School peers who are all doing really fantastic and timely research on solutions to problems that we are currently facing as a society and I am honored to have placed second among this group of superb finalists!”

The Graduate School is proud of all the 3MT participants in both the preliminary rounds and final rounds. Thank you to everyone who has supported these students in their endeavors.

2021 Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition Winners: from Microplastics to Philosophy

People’s Choice

Tied for First Place Doctoral

First Place Master’s

Second Place Master’s

Newsletter Fall/Winter 2021 Articles