UCSB pioneered the Grad Slam presentations in 2013, narrations in which the complex universe of research is spoken in a manner intended to thrill the dullest of audiences. Not that dullness is a problem at the university, where this year’s winner, George Degen, spoke of the challenge of Healing Muscles with Mussels to an alert and lively audience.
The idea of the Slam, originated by Carol Genetti, dean of Graduate Studies, soon caught on at all 10 UC campuses. Of the 79 grad students competing at UCSB in April, the finals winnowed them down to nine, and Degen’s fascinating and far-reaching look at human surgery and the implications of a bivalve’s ability to adhere to a tidal-zone rock sends him to the UC-campus-wide finals on May 10.
