CCEE Ph.D. student Leah Weaver is among ten NC State graduate students taking center stage on Monday, November 6 at 3 p.m., in Hunt Library’s Duke Energy Hall to compete in the 9th Annual Three Minute Thesis competition hosted by the Graduate School. 

First held at The University of Queensland in 2008, the 3MT competition celebrates the exciting research being conducted at universities worldwide and seeks to cultivate students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. 

The ten finalists chosen represent four colleges at NC State. Colleagues, students, and the community at large are encouraged to attend. Audience members will get to vote for a “People’s Choice” winner while a panel of judges selects first- and second-place winners. Cash prizes will be awarded to first-place ($1,000) and second-place winners ($750) and to a “People’s Choice” winner chosen by audience members ($500).

Weaver, advised by Assistant Professor Tarek Aziz, is giving a talk titled “Fantastic Fungi: Improving Stormwater Quality with Mycoremediation.”

Her dissertation research is focused on answering the question, “Can we sustainably remove hydrophilic pesticides from stormwater systems using fungal bioremediation?” While the fungus Phanerodontia chrysosporium was able to degrade imidacloprid in stormwater batch reactors, Weaver is currently working to evaluate whether this degradation remains feasible under realistic environmental conditions for stormwater infrastructure, such as bioretention cells. Additionally, Weaver is evaluating other bioretention cell amendment alternatives through a life cycle assessment.

Come out and support Weaver as she brings her research expertise to the university-wide 3MT competition on November 6 at 3 p.m., in the Hunt Library’s Duke Energy Hall.