The Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences recently hosted its fifth annual Three-Minute Thesis and Dissertation Competition as part of the Fall 2026 EAS Seminar Series.
Now in its fifth year, the competition challenges graduate students to communicate complex research clearly and engagingly to a broad audience. Each participant had just three minutes and one static slide to explain their research and its significance.
This year’s competition showcased the breadth of research across the department, with presentations covering coastal processes, remote sensing, planetary science, mineral exploration, air quality, geohazards and rare earth elements.
The presentations were evaluated by Tammy Yuan, Paula Mateo, and Yu-Huan Hsieh, who served as judges for this year’s competition.
Two awards were presented at the conclusion of the event:
Judges’ Choice: Celine Saidy, for “Let’s Get to the Root of the Problem: Dune Monitoring Using Remote Sensing.”
People’s Choice: Munirah Zulkifli, for “Ground Truth: Can AI Do an Exploration Geologist’s Job?”
Each winner will receive a $150 award in recognition of their presentation.
The competition also recognized the efforts of all participating students, whose preparation, creativity and enthusiasm highlighted the range of research being conducted across the department.
EAS congratulates Celine and Munirah and thanks all of the presenters, judges, and colleagues who helped make this year’s competition a success.