2023 Grad Slam Preliminary Rounds

Join us for the penultimate preliminary round of the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase!

Our speakers for this round are:
Yibei Chen (Communication)
"(Y)our Brain(s) on the Movie"

Noa Cykman (Sociology)
"The Forest Society: Sociology for the Climate Crisis"

Yuri Fraccaroli (Feminist Studies)
"Queering Migrations from the Global South"

Chantel Haughton (Communication)
"Family Mental Health Communication: A Culturally-Bound Process"

Will Heo (Economics)
"International Spillover Effects of Air Pollution"

Jack Keefer (Economics)
"There is Such Thing as a Free Lunch: Analyzing Community Eligibility Provision Application Groupings"

Swaroopa Lahiri (Global Studies)
"What Do Land Rights Mean for Women Farmers in India?"

Abdullah Salehuddin (Communication)
"Resilience as a Predictor for Why Some Marital Relationships Flourished and Others Struggled During the Initial Months of COVID-19"

Dingyue (Kite) Liu (Economics)
"Estimating Investor Preferences for Blockchain Security"

Nir Chemaya (Economics)
"Learning Your Own Risk Preferences"

Our esteemed judges for this round are:
- Elena Skapoulli-Raymond (Teaching Professor of Sociology)
- Casey Hankey (Business Officer for Communication)
- Menglin Li (Graduate Student in Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology and 2022 Grad Slam Finalist)
- Lily Melendez (Undergraduate Student in English and Environmental Studies)
- Jessica Sanchez (Director of Donor Relations at Santa Barbara Foundation)

Emceed by Interim Graduate Dean Leila Rupp.

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters (5 per round)

Join us for the final preliminary round of the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase!

Our speakers for this round are:

Maira Anaya-Lopez (CCSP)
"The Needs of Students with Dependents"

Amanda Andersen (Education)
"'Yes, and!' How Improvisation Supports Facilitator Confidence Engaging Diverse Communities"

Jackie Chin (CCSP)
"The Black Family Unity Project!"

Kristina Esopo (CCSP)
"In Therapy and Beyond: Getting Latinx, LGBTQ+ Youth the Care They Deserve"

Damaris Garcia (Education)
"Feelings of Closure, and Healing Returning to our Birthland: Exploring the Experience of Undocumented Immigrants"

Isaiah Jones (CCSP)
"It's Not Just How Hard You Work, but Who You Work With: The Power of Micro-Aggressions and Affirmations"

Alexandria Muller (Education)
"Engineering the Education of Today for Success in the World of Tomorrow"

Jamie Pillsbury-Fischler (Education)
"Producing Change Through Reflective Leadership"

Amaranta Ramirez (CCSP)
"The Queer Online Experience: It's Actually Different!"

Jing Su (Education)
"Mental Health of Chinese International Students"

Chongzheng Wei (CCSP)
"Stop Being WEIRD: Centering Chinese Bisexual People's Experience of Stigma"

Our esteemed judges for this round are:
- Danielle Harlow (Associate Professor of Education)
- John Hammond (Assistant Dean of Development for the School of Education)
- Sara Tyberg (Graduate Student in Sociology and Graduate Student Association Vice President of Graduate Student Affairs)
- Chloë Wheeler (Undergraduate Student in Religious Studies and Physics)
- John Romo (Former President of Santa Barbara City College)

Emceed by Graduate Division Associate Dean Amr El Abbadi.

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters (5 per round)

Join us for another preliminary round of the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase!

The talks for this round are:

Sai Sukruth Bezugam (Electrical & Computer Engineering)
"Need to Learn from Nature to Compute - Neuromorphic Computing"

Sahil Patel (Electrical & Computer Engineering)
"Riding the Wave to the next Generation of Quantum Computing"

Vaishali Surianarayanan (Computer Science)
" Kidney Meets Angel: Programming the Perfect Organ Matchmaker"

Our esteemed judges for this round are:
- Bassam Bamie ( Professor of Mechanical Engineering)
- Bella Cardoso (Graduate Advisor in Computer Science)
- Nora Wolcott (Graduate Student in Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology and 2021 Grad Slam Finalist)
- Pedro Barrera (Undergraduate Student in Chemical Engineering and UCSB PROMISE scholar)
- David Chow (Chief Scientific Officer at HRL Laboratories)

Emceed by Interim Graduate Dean Leila Rupp.

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters (5 per round)

Join us for another preliminary round of the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase!

Richen Xiong (Physics)
"When Light Married to Matter: Exciton, Moire Superlattice and Mottness"

Molly Kaplan (Physics)
"Decoding Quantum Gravity: Understanding the Validity of Holographic Tensor Networks"

Kseniia Karnaukh (Chemistry)
"Just Add a Little Bit of Ions: Strategy for Ending Plastic Recycling Crisis"

Nikolas Claussen (Physics)
"Blind Sculptors: How Cells Shape Tissues via Force-Sensing"

Austin DuBose (Chemistry)
"Pathways to Neurodegenerative Diseases: Unfolding the Mini-Mechanism"

Mathilde Papillon (Physics)
"PirouNet: The AI That Dances Like You"

Kira Wyckoff (Chemistry)
"Designing Tiny Highways for Lithium Ions"

Viraj Dharod (Physics)
"Quantum Spin-Mechanical Systems in Diamond: A Revolutionary Platform for Quantum Information"

Our esteemed judges for this round are:
- Sathya Guruswamy (Senior Lecturer in Physics)
- India Madden (Student Affairs Manager in Chemistry)
- Nicholas Naclerio (Graduate Student in Mechanical Engineering and 2022 Graduate Mentoring Award Winner)
- Angel Guzman (Undergraduate Student in Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology and UCSB PROMISE scholar)
- David Woodhouse (CEO of NGM Biopharmaceuticals)

Emceed by Graduate Division Associate Dean Jin Sook Lee.

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters (5 per round)

Join us for another preliminary round of the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase!

Our presenters are:
Alisa Bedrov (Psychological & Brain Sciences)
"Can You Keep a Secret? The Dark (and Light) Sides of Keeping and Sharing Secrets"

Ryan D'Onofrio (Dynamical Neuroscience)
"Methuselah Mosquitos - or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Live Forever"

Courtney Durdle (Psychological & Brain Sciences)
"Fighting False Identifications: Improving Eyewitness Photo Lineups with Cognitive Neuroscience"

Angela Morales (Dynamical Neuroscience)
"Reducing the Spread of Vector-Borne Disease One Taste at a Time"

Fabio Ricci (Math)
"Optimal Transport and Isoperimetric inequality (And Why Pizzas are Usually Round)"

Elizabeth Rizor (Dynamical Neuroscience)
"Your Brain on Sex Hormones: Structural Fluctuations across the Menstrual Cycle"

Malik Tuerkoen (Math)
" Can You Hear the Shape of a Drum?"

Shuying Yu (Psychological & Brain Sciences)
"Walking in Circles: Navigating Menopause"

Lee Cui (Psychological & Brain Sciences)
"A Longitudinal Sentiment Analysis of Twitter Data before and after US Supreme Court Decisions on Same-Sex Marriage"

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters (5 per round)

Our esteemed judges for this round are:

- Emily Jacobs (Associate Professor in Psychological & Brain Sciences)
- Medina Price (Graduate Student Advisor in Mathematics)
- Bryn Morgan (Graduate Student in Geography and 2020-21 Fulbright Student)
- Megan Sun (Undergraduate Student in Molecular, Cellular, & Dev. Biology and ONDAS Peer Mentor)
- Deborah Bettencourt (Former Vice President of Human Resources & Corporate Administration at Sientra)

This round will be emceed by Interim Graduate Dean Leila Rupp

Join us for another preliminary round of the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase!

The presenters for this round are:

Amarsh Anand (Technology Management Program)
"Decentralised International Money Transfer"

Elijah Baker (Environmental Science & Management)
"Mapping Prison Environmental Injustice"

N─ükoa Farrant (Environmental Science & Management)
"Looking to the Past to Feed the Future"

Louis Graup (Environmental Science & Management)
"Riparia"

Annette Hilton (Environmental Science & Management)
"Turning on the Tap"

Nicol Parker (Environmental Science & Management)
"Click Bait"

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters (5 per round)

Our esteemed judges for this round are:

- Arturo Keller (Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science & Management)
- Tricia Taylor (Student Affairs Analyst in Technology Management)
- Skyler Palatnick (Graduate Student in Physics and 2022 Grad Slam Finalist)
- Kira Wallquist (Undergraduate Student in Molecular, Cellular, & Dev. Biology and UC LEADS scholar)
- Andy Konigsberg (Board Advisor for Ion Storage Systems)

This round will be emceed by Graduate Division Associate Dean Amr El Abbadi.

Join us for the third preliminary round of the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase!

Kristy Ali (Linguistics)
"Language Finds a Way"

Cedar Brown (Linguistics)
"Politics of Change: Creation and Maintenance of Trans Language Norms"

Jamila Gonzalez (Religious Studies)
"How to Prepare the Planet for the New Jerusalem"

Ashvini Varatharaj (Linguistics)
"Understanding the Effect of Structure on Implicit Language Learning"

Gil Vitro (English)
"Tis but a Scratch! Seeking Death in the Canterbury Tales"

Maharshi Vyas (Religious Studies)
"Hymns for Homes, Hymns from Hearts: Religion in the Margins of South Asia"

Our esteemed judges for this round are:
- Elisabeth Weber (Professor of Germanic and Slavic Studies)
- Shiva Balaghi (Academic Coordinator of the Area Global Initiative, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, East Asia Center, and Latin American and Iberian Studies)
- Alyssa Lawson (Graduate Student in Psychological & Brain Sciences and 2022 Grad Slam Finalist)
- Jessy Gonzalez (Undergraduate Student in Chemical Engineering)
- Sarah Sinclair (Advertising Director at the Santa Barbara Independent)

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters (5 per round)

We'll post the full schedule of talks the week of the round, so stay tuned!

Update: This round has been cancelled due to no sign-ups from our Fine Arts students.

Join us for another preliminary round of the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase!

This round will feature 3-minute talks by graduate students in:
- Art
- Art History
- Film & Media Studies
- Media Arts & Technology
- Music
- Theater & Dance

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters (5 per round)

We'll post the full schedule of talks the week of the round, so stay tuned!

Join us as we kick off the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase with our first preliminary round!

Anna Alvarez (Mechanical Engineering)
"Jumping on Air"

Siavash Karbasizadeh (Materials)
"First-Principles Calculations of Shallow Impurities"

Markus Merk (Biological Engineering)
"On the Hunt for the First Heartbeat"

Our esteemed judges for this round are:
- Mahnoosh Alizadeh (Associate Professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering)
- Rob Dunton (UCSB Senior Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations)
- Taruna Schuelke (Graduate Student in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology and 2022 Grad Slam Finalist)
- Joanna Tian (Undergraduate Student in Psychological and Brain Sciences)
- Zoe Hinck (Supervisor of Design Verification Engineering at KARL STORZ Imaging & Founder, President of Santa Barbara Women in STEM)

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters

Join us as we continue the 2023 Grad Slam Showcase with our second preliminary round!

Paul Alessio (Earth Science)
"Thicker than Mud and Water: A Tale of Two Debris Flows"

Jacqueline Comstock (Marine Science)
"Feeding the Deep: Microbes Shine New Light on the Journey of Marine Snow from the Ocean Surface into the Twilight Zone"

Samantha Fiallo (Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology)
"Searching the Globe for the Best Mitochondria"

Seth Frazer (Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology)
"Opsins: A Model System for Bridging the Gap Between Genotype and Phenotype"

Dozie Itie (Earth Science)
"Interatheriidae Teeth Identifying Lands"

Joanna Tang (Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology)
"Restoring Vernal Pool Wetlands"

Pratyush Tripathy (Geography)
"Turning to Skies to Save Lives On Ground"

Jacey Van Wert (Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology)
"Heart Break of a Salmon"

Our esteemed judges for this round are:
- Christopher Hayes (Professor in Biochemistry)
- Kathryn Ficke (Student Programs Manager in Geography)
- Eugene Riordan Jr. (Graduate Student in Global & International Studies and Graduate Student Association Co-President)
- Naina Relan (Undergraduate Student in Psychological and Brain Sciences)
- Robert Crippen (Former Research Geologist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Over $1,500 in prize money will be given out each round, including:
- $1,000 for 1st place and advancement to the Final Round on April 14
- $500 for the runner up
- $25 gift cards for raffled off for all other presenters (5 per round)

We'll post the full schedule of talks the week of the round, so stay tuned!