For the first time in two years, ANU’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition returns in person tonight, Thursday 1 September. The competition sees three years in three minutes as PhD students condense their work into a short and punchy presentation.
Some of this year’s finalists tackle tough subjects such as moral injury in the aftermath of impossible choices, and how to do employee monitoring the right way.
Hannah Carle is one of the 11 finalists to take the stage tonight to compete for the $4,000 prize money and a spot in the Asia-pacific finals. CW had a quick chat to Carle about her work and the role trees play in our world.
What area are you studying?
I did undergraduate studies in geology and plant sciences at Monash Uni. Now I am three years into a PhD about how trees respond to the world around them, and what this means for how much carbon is stored in tropical forests.
How long is your thesis?
I’m not 100 per cent sure because I’m still writing mine, but ANU says a thesis is about 80,000 words.
How did you condense it into three minutes?
With difficulty, and many iterations. Preparing this three-minute talk has taken somewhere around 50 hours. The main challenge was to find an analogy that would make it possible for anyone to understand the key concepts in my research. The next challenge was to strip out all the scientific jargon I’m conversant in but keep all the interesting complexities and information intact.
Where did you get the title?
My talk title has changed from ‘If trees were people…’ to ‘Getting to know forest carbon… tree by tree’. I found my title by thinking about the main characters in my 3MT story – trees – and why they matter for forest carbon, which will play a central role in mitigating climate change. The title needed to feature both main characters and include a sense of the individuality with which trees respond to the world.
What would happen if trees were people?
If trees were people, we would relate to them in an entirely more constructive way. We would see more easily how different they all are – in the same way we see that every person responds differently to the stress and changes that life throws our way. Long-term ecological monitoring that follows individual trees through time is an essential source of information that will help future-proof Australia for decades to come.
What does it mean to be in the finals?
It will be an honour to stand on the finals stage. This competition is really prestigious, and such a challenge. It has been a real privilege to work alongside the other finalists and collectively up our communication game.
What would you do with the prize money?
Dental work.
Hear Hannah Carle and the other ANU PhD students explain their work in ANU’s Three Minute Thesis finals, Llewellyn Hall, ANU, Thursday 1 September 6pm; eventbrite.com.au
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