WKU News

Whitney Heard of Bowling Green, a graduate student in the biology program, is the winner of the second WKU 3MT® Competition.

Heard’s research seeks to find creative solutions to antibiotic resistance. “I am grateful for the opportunity to represent WKU at the MAGS 2022 3MT® Competition in April,” said Heard, who is a graduate of The Gatton Academy. “It is exciting to get to present my thesis work at a national level. I hope more people will find bacteriophages as interesting as I do!”

Dr. Rodney King, Professor of Biology and a research mentor of Heard, said: "Explaining a complicated research project in 3 minutes, without using technical terms, is a significant challenge. Whitney embraced this opportunity and delivered a creative presentation with confidence and professionalism. WKU will be well represented at the national 3MT® competition."

Dr. Ranjit Koodali, Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Education, attributes the success of the event to careful planning and creativity by Laura Burchfield, Research and Graduate Education Outreach Coordinator. In addition, the 3MT® information session that featured Professors Lauren Bland and Gary Hughes helped students prepare and make a high-quality presentation.

Heard will represent WKU at the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) 3MT® competition on April 8 in Milwaukee. Dr. Koodali serves as the Chair of MAGS and is excited to see a WKU graduate student share research at the group’s annual meeting.

Heard was one of four WKU graduate students who participated in Wednesday’s competition. Finalists had up to three minutes each to synthesize key findings from their projects and concisely present their research such that a lay audience can understand. The 3MT® competition is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia.

For more, visit https://www.wku.edu/graduate/professional-development/3mt/

Contact: The Graduate School, (270) 745-2446

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Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.