Warm congratulations to 2024 UoA 3MT winner Inka Pleiss (Faculty of Science), who has won first place and USD2,500 in the prestigious Universitas 21 (U21) Global 3MT Competition for her presentation on the impact of climate change on New Zealand seabirds.

Inka was up against doctoral candidates from Australia, Belgium, Chile, England, Ireland, Mexico, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, and the USA.

All the entrants belong to universities that are members of U21: a diverse, global network that brings together 30 world-leading, research-intensive universities across six continents.

Inka plans to use the award to continue her research into the sooty shearwater/tītī, and is preparing to collect more blood and feather samples.

"I am starting to see patterns in tītī between colonies and years," she says, "and the next step will be to match these patterns to ocean conditions to build a model for predicting how tītī will fare in a warming future."

Inka says she saw 3MT as an opportunity to hone her elevator pitch so that her family could understand the gist of her research.

"But seeing the audiences I presented to get excited about the tītī and concerned about their welfare in the face of climate change has once again emphasised to me the importance of my research, and the need to communicate it," she says.

"I feel truly blessed to share my research on a global scale, and hope my journey inspires others to participate in the 3MT movement."

This is not the first time that Inka has flown the UoA flag high - she also reached the finals of last year's Virtual Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition.

Well done, Inka - you've done your university and country proud!

Watch Inka's winning presentation.

The University of Auckland Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition is run by the School of Graduate Studies.