You are now in the main content area

Celebrating Student Excellence: Research Week 2025 Showcases Innovation and Scholarship

Celebrating Student Excellence: Research Week 2025 Showcases Innovation and Scholarship

March 17, 2025 - Student success was on full-display throughout Research Week 2025 (February 24–28) with standout events including the Voyageurs’ Innovation Challenge, the 15th Graduate Research Symposium and the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT), and GRADflix competitions. Congratulations to all student winners on their achievements in research and innovation, as highlighted below.

 

Voyageurs’ Innovation Challenge

The Voyageurs’ Innovation Challenge showcased student-driven entrepreneurship and research under faculty mentorship. Six teams competed, presenting high-impact innovations.

 

First Place ($8,000 – Sponsored by Desjardins)

Project: “In-Situ Robotic Construction: A Technological Approach to Housing Supply and Affordability”

Team: Professor Steven Beites (McEwen School of Architecture), Ethan McDonald (PhD candidate, Engineering Science), Dr. Marc Arsenault (Bharti School of

Engineering)

Innovation: Semi-automated assembly of prefabrication panels to enhance construction efficiency and sustainability.  

 

Second Place ($2,500 – Sponsored by Desjardins)

Project: “eDNA Enhanced Bee Hotels”

Team: Dr. Mateus Pepinelli (School of Natural Sciences), Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit members, Adam Lepage, Anastacia Chartrand, Emma Meadows, Dr. John Gunn (Professor Emeritus), and students, Hannah Gombar, Jenna McDonald, Avery Morin, and Grey Reich

Innovation: Using environmental DNA to assess pollinator biodiversity.

 

Third Place ($1,500 – Sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President Research)

Project: “CARES – Calcium Ash Recycling for Ecosystem Sustainability”

Team: Dr. Liv Favot (School of Natural Sciences) Dr. Janice Kenney (School of Natural Sciences), and students, Kate Pappin, Ellis Albrecht, and Mackenzie Hobbs

Innovation: Advancing freshwater ecosystem sustainability.

 

People’s Choice Award ($1,000 – Sponsored by Desjardins)

Project: “Gininaatigoons (We Are Learning)”

Team: Dr. Joey-Lynn Wabie (School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences) and students, Connor Lafortune, Isabelle Innes, and Ophelia O’Donnell

Innovation: Developing an outdoor land-based learning space on campus.  

 

3-Minute Thesis (3MT)

3MT is an internationally recognized, academic competition that challenges graduate students to present an overview of their research and its significance to a non-specialist audience in only three minutes. The 3MT winner will represent Laurentian University at the provincial competition on May 14, 2025 at the University of Toronto. The winners received prizes sponsored by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.  

 

1st place: Hayden Reaume, Biology (MSc.)

“Investigating the Role of Natural Background Radiation in Hydrated Yeast.”

 

2nd place: Erin Postenka, Biology (MSc.)

“Wintertime wetland drainage: How turtle populations respond to a potential catastrophe.”  

 

3rd place: Chanelle Larocque, Indigenous Relations (MIR)

“Drug Toxicity & Urban Indigenous Women.”  

 

People’s Choice Award: Mary Yu, Biology (MSc.)

“Wood Turtle Habitat Selection: Temperature and Food Resource Availability.”  

 

GRADflix

The GRADflix competition provides the opportunity for graduate students to present their research to non-specialist audiences by crafting a 60 second video. Participants record an explainer video, slide show, or animation describing their research topic in one minute or less. The winners were awarded prizes sponsored by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

 

1st place: Ronan Derbowka, Biology (MSc.)

“Identification of miRNA Biomarkers for Radiation Exposure.”  

 

2nd place: Gabrielle Faucher, Biology (MSc.)

“Diversity in food webs of acid-recovering Lake Trout lakes in Northeastern Ontario.”  

 

3rd place: Fatemeh Rahbarpour, Boreal Ecology (PhD)

“Seasonal Cycling of Nitrogen in Plants”  

 

Graduate Symposium

The 15th Graduate Research Symposium celebrates the hard work and dedication of our graduate students. Over the course of two days, students presented their research and scholarship to an audience of peers, supervisors, and the broader Laurentian community. Participants were judged on the quality of their presentations, content analysis, and ability to communicate effectively to non-specialist audiences. Winners were awarded prizes sponsored by the Graduate Students’ Association.

 

Best Presentation - Overall

Hayden Reaume, Biology (MSc.)

“REPAIR Project at SNOLAB: Understand the Role of Natural Background Radiation Using Yeast.”  

 

Best Presentation - Faculty of Science, Engineering and Architecture:

Amanda Keursten, Biology (MSc.)

“Bioremediation and Sequestration of Gallium from Mining Tailings using Pseudomonas fluorescens.”  

 

Best Presentation - Faculty of Education and Health

Melanie Cloutier, Human Kinetics (MHK)

“Evaluating Seat Adjustment Training for Heavy Equipment Operators Based on Knowledge, Behaviours, and Self-Efficacy.”  

 

Best Presentation - Faculty of Arts

Britney Hammell, Psychology (MA)

“Savouring Ability in Relation to Friendship Quality in Older Adults.”  

 

Best Presentation - Indigenous Content

Sheri Cecchetto, Indigenous Relations (MIR)

“The 7-Direction Pitchenese Model: Integrating Anishinaabe Worldviews into Indigenous Social Work Education.”  

 

Best Presentation - French Language

Kouame Toussaint Boko, Kinésie humaine (MHK)

“La question de l’utilité du développement de la pensée critique des futur.e.s enseignant.e.s francophones lors des stages en Éducation Physique et Santé: points de vues des enseignant.e.s associé.e.s. francophones de l'Ontario.”  

University community prepares for third annual Graduate Research Symposium

University community prepares for third annual Graduate Research Symposium

The Graduate Students’ Association plans week-long event in support of the discovery and dissemination of research.

(March 22, 2023) - The third annual Graduate Research Symposium, a week-long event that promotes graduate student research at Laurentian University, will take place in the Fielding Innovation Center on March 27th to 31st, 2023. This student-led ‘Discovery and Dissemination’ event is spearheaded by the Graduate Student Association (GSA) with support from the Office of Graduate Studies. 

Presentations about research projects from students and candidates enrolled in Master and PhD programs will be offered. A volunteer panel of faculty will award prizes to the best presentation delivered in each faculty: Education and Health, Science, Engineering and Architecture, Management, and Arts. Awards will also be distributed for the top French presentation and top Indigenous content presentation. Judges will be looking for presentation skills, audience engagement, structure of research, audio visuals, and critical analysis or interpretation. 

“The Graduate Research Symposium is an event hosted by grad students for grad students,” said GSA President, Meghan McCue. “It showcases the excellent research being done by graduate students across the university. It is a great opportunity for students to share proposals, progress, and new discoveries with students and faculty from all departments.” McCue is a PhD candidate in Biomolecular Sciences. 

Graduate students also have the opportunity to compete in Laurentian’s 3 minute thesis (3MT®). The 3MT® is a university-wide academic competition developed by the University of Queensland (Australia), in which participants present their research in 3 minutes or less to a panel of judges. The challenge is to present complex research in an engaging, accessible and compelling way, using only one slide.

Laurentian’s 3MT® competition winner will be invited to compete at Provincial Finals to be held at Queen’s University on May 17th, 2023.

Speaking positively about the upcoming symposium, Laurentian’s Vice President of Research, Dr. Tammy Eger said: “We are very proud of the dedication of our graduate student body whose research and scholarship continues to address important questions that impact our community. The Graduate Student Symposium and 3MT® offers a unique opportunity to showcase the tireless efforts of graduate students, often done in partnership with industry and community partners.” 

All are invited to take part in this week-long event. The Symposium presentation schedule with abstracts can be found here.
 

University community prepares for Graduate Research Symposium

University community prepares for Graduate Research Symposium

The Graduate Students’ Association plans week-long event in support of the discovery and dissemination of research.

(March 16, 2022) - A week-long event that promotes graduate student research at Laurentian University will take place March 21st to 25th, 2022. This student-led ‘Discovery and Dissemination Graduate Research Symposium’ is spearheaded by the Graduate Student Association, with support from the Office of Graduate Studies. 

Presentations about current research projects from students and candidates enrolled in Master and PhD programs will be offered. A volunteer panel of student judges from the Science Communication program will award prizes to the best presentation delivered in each faculty. Awards will also be distributed for the top French presentation and top Indigenous content presentation. 

Students from Biology and Science Communication programs will additionally participate in a ‘Sci Comm Bio Bites Showcase.’ Produced and directed by the Science Communication students, this group of biologists will engage and inspire the audience with their fascinating research and polished presentation skills.

Graduate students also have the opportunity to compete in Laurentian’s 3 minute thesis (3MT). 3MT is a university-wide competition in which participants present their research in 3 minutes or less to a panel of non-specialist judges. The challenge is to present complex research in an engaging, accessible and compelling way, using only one slide. 

“The 3MT competition provides graduate students with an opportunity to refine skills that can be transferred after graduation to diverse career paths,” said Stacy Sathaseevan, Laurentian’s Graduate Information Officer. “Distilling research into a clear form, without over-simplifying or making it overly-complex, and highlighting the wider implications of the research are important skills to carry into post-graduate employment and public service.”

Laurentian’s 3MT competition winner will be invited to compete at Provincial Finals to be held at the University of Guelph on May 4th, 2022. 

Speaking positively about the upcoming symposium and its numerous offerings, Laurentian’s Vice President of Research, Dr. Tammy Eger said: “We are extremely proud of the tireless efforts and dedication of our graduate student body. Research and scholarship conducted by Laurentian’s graduate students continues to address important questions for northern Ontario and Canada, often done in partnership with industry and community partners.” 

All are invited to take part in this week-long event. Apart from the 3MT competition that will take place in the Classroom building, in Room C-203, on March 23rd, 2022, 12:00 noon - 2:00pm, all other events will be hosted via Zoom. 

The following Zoom link provides access to the week-long event. 
The Symposium presentation schedule with abstracts can be found here.