Only a week after winning Brock’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, Carly Cameron is moving onto the Canadian 3MT finals.

Cameron, an MSc Applied Health Sciences student, gave a flawless presentation to place among the best at the Ontario 3MT finals, held April 14 in Waterloo and hosted by Wilfrid Laurier University.

Cameron finished in the fifth Ontario qualifying spot and will advance to the national level, an online competition coordinated by the Canadian Association of Graduate Schools. She received a double honour at the provincial competition by being chosen by her fellow presenters — 20 doctoral and master’s degree students — as the winner of the Participant’s Choice Award.

This is the second time in four years that a Brock student has gone to the national level of the popular communications competition for graduate students. Developed in Australia by the University of Queensland in 2008, the 3MT challenges students to explain their research in plain language in just three minutes.

Cameron’s research investigates ways to make the gym setting a more comfortable and less critical place for women. In her presentation, ““Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…,” Cameron explains that societal pressures to appear slim and beautiful may initially cause many women to be anxious when they view their reflection during workouts. But when those women use the mirror to develop correct techniques and form during exercise, that anxiety disappears.

“I ran through my presentation three times last night and twice this morning. I was just as nervous today as I was at the preliminary and final rounds at Brock,” Cameron said after the results had been announced.

“This was a fantastic experience that challenged me on both a personal and academic level. I encourage people to seize opportunities such as this, which push you outside your comfort zone — you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish.”

“All of the presentations were amazing. It’s a fantastic opportunity, as a graduate student, to think carefully about the big picture impact of your research and how to share that with the public. It’s very gratifying to know that people in the audience came away with a real understanding about what I’m doing and why it’s important.”

Cameron, who will graduate at Spring Convocation, is currently working in Brock’s Research Services as a Research Ethics Officer.

Placing first in Ontario was Gah-Jone Won, a PhD student in the School of Optometry and Vision Science, at the University of Waterloo. Also qualifying for the nationals were: Michael Moore, Ryerson University; Anastasia Shavrova, Biology, Queen’s University and Justin Michael Whitaker, Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa.

The five Ontario students will learn more in the next few weeks about the Canadian finals. Other regional contests are held at Memorial University and UBC Okanagan.

For more information about the Ontario finals, visit the website at wlu.ca/3MT