Soaring High: Seabird Researcher Wins Global Contest

University of Auckland PhD student Inka Pleiss, who’s researching the native seabird tītī, won a global “three-minute thesis” competition.

Pleiss analyses feathers and blood samples from the tītī, or sooty shearwater, to assess how the birds and their colonies are faring and their prospects under climate change.

She took out the Universitas 21 (U21) Global 3MT Competition ahead of doctoral candidates from Australia, Belgium, Chile, England, Ireland, Mexico, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, and the US.

Each participant had to explain their PhD thesis through an online presentation of no more than three minutes.

"I feel truly blessed to share my research on a global scale,” says Pleiss, who’s in the School of Biological Sciences at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

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.

Watch Inka's winning presentation.

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