Four UC Riverside students took top prizes in the third-annual EcoSlam on April 22, in which competitors shared research regarding ecology and conservation in “lighting talk” rounds.

The event, sponsored by the Center for Conservation Biology, was created as a way to share research across multiple departments.

This year marked the first time undergraduates also competed. Each speaker gave a five-minute presentation to an audience of students and faculty members, who voted on the winners.

Among graduate students, Elijah Hall, a doctoral student in evolution, ecology and organismal biology, took first place for his talk, “Are desert plants and pollinators losing their phenological synchrony?”

Brooke Rose, a doctoral student in botany and plant sciences, won second place for her talk called “Geography and Plant Vulnerability in the California Floristic Province.”

The first place undergraduate student was Thuy-Tien Bui, a sophomore majoring in in environmental sciences, for her talk called “Keystone plants and pollinators at Motte Rimrock natural reserve.”

The second place undergraduate student was Rhea Amatya, a junior majoring in in biology, whose talk was titled “Exploring extinction simulations in Lepidoptera-plant pollination and herbivory networks."