Researcher behind water-crisis study wins 3MT

A study into the water crisis in northern Nigerian rural communities won the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final.

Williams Joshua wowed the judges with his presentation which they said “put them at the heart of the issue and made them really understand what he was trying to achieve”.

The Graduate School organised the annual final as part of the University's revised Research Celebration.

Developed by the University of Queensland to celebrate the exciting research conducted by PhD students, 3MT finalists have one slide and three minutes to present their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. Since its inception in 2008, the popularity of 3MT has grown, and competitions are now held in over 900 universities across more than 65 countries worldwide.

Winner Williams, who is a PhD researcher in the University’s Mary Robinson Centre for Climate Justice, said: “To me, the water crisis in Nigeria is very familiar. In the UK, we take freely running water for granted. In Nigeria, there is no such luxury. People rely on wells that are easily contaminated by flood waters, and so they then have to walk miles to find water that still may be contaminated by urine and faeces.

“My research is aiming to highlight these issues and inform policy that can help rectify them. I am passionate about the environment and am interested in addressing water-related issues by contributing to the solution rather than the problem. My dream is to become a leading environmentalist that will contribute to solving the climate and water crisis, especially with respect to adaptation and mitigation in the Global South.”

Thesis Whisperer Professor Inger Mewburn, director of researcher development at the Australian National University, sat on the panel of judges and was joined Dr Stephanie Zihms, Academic Writing Lecturer in the Graduate School; Dr George Loumakis, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Management; and Steven Vass, Business and Economy editor of The Conversation, who has been on the panel the past three years.

As always, the audience was also able to have their say via the People's Choice vote, which was won by Lucy Mackay, who presented her thesis on 'Potential Legal Responses to Gender-Based Public Harassment'.

This year, the Judges' Choice and People's Choice winner each received a £100 prize, issued by the Graduate School. Williams, as the Judges' Choice winner, will now go on to represent Glasgow Caledonian in the UK 3MT competition and will have their name added to the University's 3MT Trophy.

The event was introduced by Vice-Chancellor Professor Steve Decent, who discussed his own research journey. Having graduated with a BSc in Mathematics at Brunel University, and a PhD at the University of St Andrews, Professor Decent is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, and specialises in research on free-surface flows, including liquid jets and water waves.