Mollie Green, a doctoral candidate within the animal science graduate program, placed first in the Texas Tech University Graduate School’s annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, which took place on Thursday (Oct. 3) at the university’s Student Union Building.
She was among 50 graduate student competitors and selected among seven other top doctoral students from across the university during the finals on Friday (Oct. 4). By taking top honors, Green advances to represent Texas Tech and the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources in the 3MT Regional Finals at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools in March.
Each student in the contest was allowed to use one static PowerPoint slide while effectively explaining their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. A panel of judges from Texas Tech and the Lubbock community evaluated students.
“Mollie did an excellent job communicating her results in molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with marbling accumulation in beef steers to a panel of judges with distinct science background,” said Clarissa Strieder-Barboza, Green’s advisor and an assistant professor within Davis College’s Department of Veterinary Sciences. “Translating complex results into a short, easy-going speech is a valuable skill as a graduate student and future agricultural researcher.”
Green’s presentation was titled, “Meat, Marbling, and Macrophages: The 3 M’s on How Marbling Is Associated with increased Lipid Associated Macrophages in Beef Steers.” Her presentation is a part of a USDA project led by Strieder-Barboza Lab titled “Unraveling Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms Underlying Intramuscular, Subcutaneous, and Visceral Adipose Tissue Growth in Beef Cattle.”
“This specific part of the project focuses on the cellular differences of high and lower marbling cattle, as well as elucidates underlying mechanisms to why genetically similar feedlot cattle grade differently,” Green said. “Our findings not only identified cellular heterogeneity but also increased abundance of a specific cell type, Lipid Associated Macrophages (LAM), in high marbling cattle.”
“These findings can help us with the next steps of identifying cattle who have the ability to grade higher and give us a better understanding of the cellular make-up of marbling or intramuscular fat in beef steers,” she added.
Green received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science from West Texas A&M University, where she was a member of the equestrian, horse and livestock judging teams. The Broadview Heights, Ohio native entered the animal science graduate program in fall 2023.
Today, she serves as a graduate research assistant within the Department of Veterinary Sciences. In her spare time, she helps raise registered Brangus at her family’s Brangus Seedstock Operation in southeast Arizona, where she is starting to build her own registered herd.
CONTACT: Clarissa Strieder-Barboza, Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-3398 or cstriede@ttu.edu
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