From the health of Wisconsin’s dairy cows to improving the insurance claims process for victims of natural disasters, two UW–Madison international students, finalists of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, showed how big ideas can be told in bite-sized, impactful stories.
The mere thought of boiling down the entirety of your research into a three-minute elevator pitch is daunting to most, but Trinidad Fernandez Wallace from Cordoba, Argentina, and Shimeng Huang from Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, both rose to the challenge.
Fernandez Wallace, who is currently in her second year of her master’s program in dairy science, studies the immune system of dairy cows during one of the most critical transition periods: pregnancy to lactation. This period is when cows are most susceptible to disease, with research showing as many as 50 percent of dairy cows battling a disease during that time. Her research focuses on how immune cells, primarily T helper cells, react during this time as they are key in the whole immune system’s function. The goal? Identify ways to improve cow health and reduce diseases.
Huang, a PhD candidate in risk management and actuarial science, focuses her research on index insurance, which is designed to protect against large financial losses caused by natural disasters. Her research aims to work on the global protection gap in which a large portion of damages due to natural disasters are uninsured. Using weather data analysis, Huang’s work aims to develop a model that improves the accuracy of claims and payouts.
For both students, the 3MT was a great opportunity to practice English language and communications skills in front of an audience. Huang entered because she felt it would be good practice for a job search.
“This is a very good opportunity to practice talking about your research, especially to a general audience since most people don’t know about your research area,” said Huang.
Fernandez Wallace, who won the “People’s Choice Award” in the competition, noted the support and guidance that participants got prior to the competition that is applicable beyond just three minutes.
“They encouraged us a lot. They offered workshops about how to prepare your presentation, slides, and a good speech,” said Fernandez Wallace.
The 3MT competition not only provided Fernandez Wallace and Huang a stage to share their research on, but helped equip them with skills they can take beyond the classroom. They showed that stories and ideas don’t always need to be lengthy; they just need to be clear.
Author note: the approximate read time on this article is 3 minutes, the time in which 3MT participants summarized their entire research in to.