2026
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2026 Grad Slam Champion
Kaylee Laub
Social Sciences & Education
Reimagining Climate Solutions Through Speculative Designs
2026 Grad Slam Runners-up
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Jordan Bream
Engineering
From 1960s Relics to Solid-State Reliability: The NASICON Energy Grid
2026 Grad Slam Runners-up
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Michaela Sten
Earth & Biological Sciences
Carbon Collab: Where Should We Grow Seaweed to Mitigate Climate Change?
2026 Grad Slam Finalists
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Komal
Chemistry & Physics
Click It to Fix It
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Jordan Bream
Engineering
From 1960s Relics to Solid-State Reliability: The NASICON Energy Grid
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Ashley Diedenhofen
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
A Squid Waste Problem (and Our Solution)
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Kaylee Laub
Social Sciences & Education
Reimagining Climate Solutions Through Speculative Designs
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Jakob Romine
Humanities & Fine Arts
The Social Responsibilities of Singer-Songwriters in Spain and Latin America
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Michaela Sten
Earth & Biological Sciences
Carbon Collab: Where Should We Grow Seaweed to Mitigate Climate Change?
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Celine Tsoi
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
Do I Stand with You Because We’re Alike—or Because It’s Right?
2026 Grad Slam Preliminary Rounds Runners-Up
Sonal Barve
Second Chance Round
Complex Prices, Costly Decisions
Parker Carlson
Second Chance Round
Accelerating Search in the AI Era
Samuel Kim
Second Chance Round
The Economic Impacts of Late 3rd/Early 4th Century Building Projects on the Late Roman Economy
Cristhian Salas
Second Chance Round
Deep Signals: What Earthquakes Tell Us About the Deep Earth (Earth Science)
Daniele Vinella
Second Chance Round
Minimally Invasive Real-Time Inflammation Monitoring Platform
2026 Grad Slam Presenters
Komal
Chemistry & Physics
Click It to Fix It
Elise Dauterive
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
Return to Sender: Designing Equitable Textile Recycling in California
Abdelrahman Abdelrahman
Engineering
Noise Is Not a Bug — It's the Algorithm
Elif Sila Akbulut
Chemistry & Physics
The Art of Painless Sticking
Amanda Anderson
Social Sciences & Education
The Creative Experience of Meditators
Anna Banowsky
Humanities & Fine Arts
Engaging the Public to Increase Humanities Funding
Sonal Barve
Second Chance Round
Complex Prices, Costly Decisions
Nevan Bell
Social Sciences & Education
Soft Hands, Hard Sciences: Navigating Masculinity in STEM
Kanika Bhalla
Social Sciences & Education
Colonial Interventions in the ‘Orient’: Retelling and Appropriation of Folktales in Construction of Colonial Modernity in Punjab
Shruthi Ravinda Bharadwaj
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
How Reliable Are Networks Learned from Extreme Data?
Jordan Bream
Engineering
From 1960s Relics to Solid-State Reliability: The NASICON Energy Grid
Parker Carlson
Second Chance Round
Accelerating Search in the AI Era
James Clinton
Engineering
Stiffening, Shaping, and Locomotion of Reconfigurable Robot Swarm Through Simple 1-DOF Arm Mechanisms
Ashley Coventry
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
Love, Actually, is Predictable: Arranging Successful Blind Dates Using Computational Models of Partner Choice
Alan Crawley
Social Sciences & Education
Visual Fireworks: The Nonverbal Communication of Passion
Jaber Daneshamooz
Engineering
Practical AI for Internet Performance
Viraj Dharod
Chemistry & Physics
Turning Light into Sound for Quantum Technology
Ashley Diedenhofen
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
A Squid Waste Problem (and Our Solution)
Kara Dunn
Earth & Biological Sciences
Boosting the Brain's Cleanup Crew to Protect Memory
Damaris Garcia Valerio
Social Sciences & Education
Returning to Birthland: An Exploration of DACA Recipients’ Journeys to Their Ancestral Lands
Alex Giovannone
Chemistry & Physics
Magnetic Resonance with a Free Electron Laser
Maria Job
Humanities & Fine Arts
Hungry Plants Against Capitalist Rhetorics
Marianna Karagiannis
Earth & Biological Sciences
When Sugars Stink and Carbon Sinks: The Role of Sulfur in Marine Carbon Burial
Samuel Kim
Second Chance Round
The Economic Impacts of Late 3rd/Early 4th Century Building Projects on the Late Roman Economy
Chae Yeong Kim
Chemistry & Physics
A Ring to Bind CO2
Jennifer Lai
Earth & Biological Sciences
Understanding How Visual Information is Extracted for Navigation
Kaylee Laub
Social Sciences & Education
Reimagining Climate Solutions Through Speculative Designs
Taylor Martin del Campo
Social Sciences & Education
Exploring Sense of Belongingness Among Formerly Incarcerated Students in Higher Education Institutions
Dylan Martins
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
Studying Vision during Natural Animal Behavior
Han P.Q. Nguyen
Chemistry & Physics
When Power Goes Out, What Keeps Us Warm?
Bedlam Oak
Social Sciences & Education
Understanding Activists through Planetary Mapping
Amber Reinke
Social Sciences & Education
When Coaches Cross the Line: Abuse and Student-Athlete Mental Health
Fabio Ricci
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
Why are Pizzas usually Round?
Felipe Rojas Vilches
Earth & Biological Sciences
Where is Water Coming From? Tracing Water Sources in Volcanoes Using New Isotope Sampling
Jakob Romine
Humanities & Fine Arts
The Social Responsibilities of Singer-Songwriters in Spain and Latin America
Cristhian Salas
Second Chance Round
Deep Signals: What Earthquakes Tell Us About the Deep Earth (Earth Science)
Sofia Sarak
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
Ants, Plants, and Isotopes: Investigating the trophic levels of Guanica Dry Forest
Lucian Scher
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
Hydropowers Low-Hanging Fruits
Jean Pauline Serrano
Social Sciences & Education
Youth Navigating Adversity
Divyoj Singh
Chemistry & Physics
How the Heart Learns to Beat
Michaela Sten
Earth & Biological Sciences
Carbon Collab: Where Should We Grow Seaweed to Mitigate Climate Change?
Yuxi Tan
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
Uncertainty Quantification in Classical Density Functional Theory
Celine Tsoi
Environmental & Technology Management; Math & Brain Sciences
Do I Stand with You Because We’re Alike—or Because It’s Right?
Daniele Vinella
Second Chance Round
Minimally Invasive Real-Time Inflammation Monitoring Platform
Eunwoo Yoo
Humanities & Fine Arts
What to Eat and How to Cook: A 17th-Century Guide to the English Body
2026 Grad Slam Final Round Judges
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Elizabeth Belding
Professor of Computer Science
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Arnie Brier
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Legal Officer at Yardi Systems
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Buster Buchanan
Health Equity Advocate at Health and Wellness
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Rimika Jaiswal
2025 Grad Slam Second Chance Round Participant
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Karen Myers
Professor of Communications
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Ashley Rifkin
International Programs Specialist at OISS
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Kathleen Zhang
URCA Slam Winner
2026 Grad Slam Preliminary Round Judges
Victor Rios
MacArthur Foundation Chair in the Department of Sociology
Anna Alvarez
Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical Engineering
Linda Burrows
Graduate Dean’s Cabinet Member in the Graduate Division
Kristen Desmond
Executive Administrator at American Riviera Bank
Harleen Dhanda
Undergraduate Student in Psychological & Brain Sciences
Chris Gifford
Senate Analyst in the Academic Senate
Kaylia Grant
Academic Advisor in the Graduate Division
Kohanya Groff, Ph.D.
Anthropologist
Octavio Gzain
Master’s Candidate in Technology Management
Hsiu-Zu Ho, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita of Psychology & Education
Teresa Holden, Ph.D.
Assistant Director of Academic Programs
erin Khue Ninh
Professor of Asian American Studies
Anika Kitson
Associate Director of Disabled Student Services
Valencia Lagbo
Ph.D. Student in Counseling Psychology
Enri Lala
Internal Vice President of the Associated Students
Arica Lubin, Ph.D.
Associate Director of the Center of Science & Engineering Partnership
Kate McDonald
Associate Professor in the History Department
Joe McFadden
Professor in the Department of Geography & Chair of the Graduate Council
Emile Morin
Ph.D. Candidate in Organic Chemistry
Natalie Nash
Undergraduate Student in Economics & Sociology with English minor
Karen Nylund-Gibson, Ph.D.
Professor in the Education Department
Sameer Pandya, Ph.D.
Associate Professor & Chair of the Department of Asian American Studies
Jacques Parker
Graduate Student in the Department of Religious Studies
Emma Parker, Ph.D.
Manager of Strategic Initiatives & Student Parent Liaison in Student Life
Michelle Pickett
Corporate Counsel at Yardi Systems
Conor Pugsley
Undergraduate Researcher with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Suzanne Retzinger, Ph.D.
Private Practice Psychotherapist
Victor Rios, Ph.D.
Professor in the Department of Sociology & MacArthur Foundation Chair
Daniela Rivera Mirabal
Ph.D. Candidate in Chemical Engineering
Paul Rogers
Associate Professor of Writing Studies
Joe Salceda
Undergraduate Student in Chemical Engineering
Reetika Sindhi
Ph.D. Candidate in Economics
Rickie Smith
Systems Operation & Analysis Director in the Graduate Division
Mark Sten
Lecturer in the Department of Technology Management & Entrepreneur
Callie Thai
Undergraduate Student in Molecular & Cellular Biology
Eemaan Wahidullah
Off-Campus Senator in the Associated Students Senate