Grad Slam Finalists 2018
Congratulations to the winners of UC Santa Cruz Grad Slam 2018!
The 2018 UCSC Grad Slam took place February 23, 2018, 5:30 p.m., at the Music Center Recital Hall.
Videos of presentations on our YouTube channel
Champion, Winning $3000
People's Choice, Winning $750
Kimberley Kanani Bitterwolf
Ocean Sciences
Ph.D., 5th year
Decoding Earth's Erratic History
Hometown: Lihue, Kauai, HI
Fun Fact: Owns a Rottweiler-Husky dog named Pawesome
2nd Place, Winning $1500
Nickolas Knightly
Philosophy
Ph.D., 5th year
A Better World Depends on Better Ways of Knowing
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Fun Fact: Some of his best friends are horses, who’ve taught him a lot about philosophy as a way of life
The other 10 finalists also gave stellar performances!
Tony Assi
Digital Arts and New Media
M.F.A., 2nd year
Gaze Painting
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Fun Fact: Lead singer of a glam rock band called Psychic Astro Club
Stephan Bitterwolf
Ocean Sciences
Ph.D., 2nd year
A Stress Test for Coral Reefs
Hometown: Water Island, U.S. Virgin Islands
Fun Fact: Longest time to hold breath is three minutes
Eilin Francis
Economics
Ph.D., 5th year
Behaviorally Informed Payment Plans
Hometown: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Kerala, India
Fun Fact: Trained in and performed classical Indian dance for ten years
Sharmistha Guha
Statistics and Applied Mathematics
Ph.D., 3rd year
Understanding Human Creativity with Brain Networks
Hometown: Kolkata, India
Fun Fact: Loves to travel and explore U.S. national parks, has been to several, next to Zion and Arches
Helen Holmlund
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Ph.D., 2nd year
Water Use Strategies in Ferns
Hometown: Montara, CA
Fun Fact: Has grapheme-color synesthesia, sees letters and numbers in color
Courtney Kersten
Literature
Ph.D., 2nd year
Locating Linda: A Biographical Exploration of a New Age Guru, Grief, and Healing
Hometown: Eau Claire, WI
Fun Fact: Has lived abroad in Budapest, Hungary; Leiden, The Netherlands; and Riga, Latvia
Stephanie Montgomery
History
Ph.D., 6th year
Gender, Criminality, and the Prison in China
Hometown: Winnemucca, NV
Fun Fact: Before 18 years of age had visited only one other U.S. state but has now lived in and traveled to more countries (13) than U.S. states (11)
Rebecca Ora
Film and Digital Media
Ph.D., 6th year
Pushing the Limits of Representation: Writing Transgressive Histories through Art
Hometown: New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA
Fun Fact: After receiving a top award while getting her M.F.A., created her own annual award for risk-takers in the arts and established her own micronation, Pantasia, through a San Franciso art museum
Tiffany Thang
Computational Media
M.S., 1st year
Teaching Emotion Recognition Using Virtual Reality Games
Hometown: San Jose, CA
Fun Fact: Once went on a hike from UCSC through Pogonip Park and ended up at Costco
Talia Waltzer
Psychology
Ph.D., 3rd year
[citation needed] Why So Many Students Plagiarize
Hometown: Edison, NJ
Fun Fact: Favorite food is loved by some, despised by many, banned in many Asian places: Durian, King of Fruits!
