Last week, Oklahoma State University Ph.D. student Adam Cobb won the OSU Graduate College’s fourth annual 3-Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition by explaining his research in three minutes or less and with only one slide. In the spirit of 3MT®, I will now tell you a little bit more about Adam in 500 words or less.
Photo credit: Tyler Siems Photographs
Adam’s journey to OSU is one we might expect to see on film, but when you hear his story, it makes perfect sense why he is here researching how to responsibly feed the world’s population.
When Adam was 11, his parents moved his family from Seattle to the Philippines after receiving a new position with their church. His school there had students from more than 40 countries, and Adam enjoyed the international environment.
After high school, he moved back to the states and received his bachelor’s in international business from Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio.
Adam then lived in Chicago for about two years before going on a three-month hiking trip in New Zealand where he worked on farms in exchange for lodging and food. This inspired in Adam a newfound interest in agriculture. When he returned to the U.S., he began looking to his next step.
A friend from Yukon, Oklahoma, was preparing to come to OSU for an architecture degree. Adam checked into programs with the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources (CASNR), and he ended up coming to OSU, eventually receiving his master’s in international agriculture.
Adam does research in Oklahoma (top left) and on the cassava root in Nicaragua (remaining images).
With a desire to travel, Adam considered going elsewhere to earn his Ph.D., but a new project with CASNR faculty member Dr. Gail Wilson kept him here. He is now preparing to defend his dissertation and graduate this semester with his Ph.D. in natural resource ecology and management.
Adam’s presentation for the 3MT® competition, “From Soil Ecology to Human Nutrition,” focuses on the project that kept him here. The research looks at a beneficial soil fungi in the roots of two crops commonly grown in underdeveloped parts of the world: grain sorghum and cowpea (black-eyed peas). The team assesses the link between the fungi, the plants and the nutritional value of the crops. The fungi also benefit soil health, which could help to prevent another dust bowl.
Adam describes sorghum and cowpea as “orphan” crops because they don’t receive as much attention as crops like corn, wheat and soybeans so not as much is known about what affects their production. However, these crops are critical for world food security because poorer subsistence farmers typically grow them to feed their families.
This was Adam’s first year to participate with the OSU 3MT®. He says the whole 3MT experience is one that he would highly recommend to others. He received unique feedback on his research from colleagues, family and friends. He can also use his 3MT® presentation to talk about his research outside the competition.
Next spring, Adam will represent OSU in the regional 3MT® in Annapolis, Maryland. Other future plans include research opportunities, both at OSU and abroad. He wants to continue traveling while he’s young and would like to teach in the future. Adam isn’t used to staying in one place for too long, but his future seems securely rooted in helping to make the world a better place through sustainable and improved agricultural practices.
Adam finds some helpers in Zambia.