Nebraska psychology pupil Max Lottes delivered a spirited protection of often-maligned cortisol — a diva, to make sure, however a essential one in moderation — to win the grand prize on the 2026 Student Research Days Slam on April 9.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln slam, celebrating its tenth 12 months, options undergraduate and graduate college students presenting their analysis in energetic five-minute talks, with the viewers deciding on a winner.
Cortisol, a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands atop the kidneys, acts because the physique’s main stress regulator. It additionally helps handle metabolism, blood sugar, blood strain and immune response. Chronic stress can hold cortisol ranges excessive, contributing to weight achieve and anxiousness, whereas low ranges may cause fatigue and low blood strain.
Lottes framed cortisol as “Courtney Sol” in his speak, “Courtney Sol: The Untold Story of the Infamous Adrenocortical Steroid Hormone,” leaning into its fame as a “drama queen.”
“She’s known for stressing people out, making them fat and for her messy divorce with her ex-husband, insulin,” he stated.
He defined their “relationship” in metabolic phrases: cortisol pushes sugar into the bloodstream for power, whereas insulin removes and shops it.
“Famously, this all came to a head on an episode of ‘The Real Housewives of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary Adrenal Axis,’” he joked.
Despite its fame, Lottes stated cortisol is misunderstood.
“In moderation, she really isn’t the villain the media makes her out to be,” he stated. “If you’ve got things to be stressed about, stress is exactly the emotion you want.”
Lottes was one of 5 college students in this 12 months’s slam. In the final decade, the occasion has featured 47 individuals from 23 departments and 7 schools, stated Jocelyn Bosley, analysis influence coordinator and emcee.
Four different college students additionally introduced as half of the slam.
Prabhashis Bose, a graduate pupil in meals science and know-how, explored the intestine microbiome in “What’s Causing Your Gut Feeling?”
He described meals science as “the conversation between what you eat and who you become,” including that the intestine is the place that dialog is most complicated.
Microbes in the intestine play a central role in health, producing neurotransmitters equivalent to serotonin and dopamine. Nearly 90% of the physique’s serotonin is produced in the intestine, not the mind, Bose stated.
“We assume the brain is in charge,” he stated. “But most signals on the gut-brain highway travel from the gut to the brain.”
His analysis examines Nebraska-grown crops — corn, sorghum and Great Northern beans — and the way they have an effect on microbial communities in completely different people.
Zenebu Derbew, a graduate pupil in civil and environmental engineering, introduced “Smart Sands: Giving ‘Forever’ Chemicals an Expiration Date.”
Holding up a glass of water, she challenged the viewers to rethink what seems to be clear.
PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” are linked to health dangers together with most cancers, thyroid illness and decreased fertility, and have been detected in most Americans. Because they don’t break down in the setting, they persist in on a regular basis merchandise equivalent to nonstick pans and waterproof supplies.
Derbew is creating “Smart Sands,” a system that destroys PFAS by breaking their chemical bonds.
“Using machine learning, I can predict how Smart Sands perform in different water systems,” she stated, permitting sooner, extra environment friendly design.
Babatunde Okunlola, a graduate pupil in journalism and mass communications, targeted on the brief lifespan of information in “From Temporal to Timeless.”
Even main tales typically fade inside days, he stated, creating challenges for in-depth reporting.
Drawing on his expertise as a journalist in Nigeria, Okunlola described reporting on unlawful gold mining that contaminated the Osun River. Though his work led to coverage modifications, the influence was short-lived as consideration light and mining resumed.
He later created the Saving the Osun River Project, a digital archive documenting years of environmental harm.
“Journalism has a timestamp,” he stated. “Digital humanities gave me the tools to make important work last.”
Oluwamayowa Oluwaniyi, a graduate pupil in mechanical and supplies engineering, introduced “More Than a Tractor, More Than a Survey.”
He stated folks typically misunderstand agricultural engineering as easy farm work.
“They didn’t see the thermodynamics of crop preservation or the fluid mechanics of irrigation,” he stated.
Now pursuing engineering training analysis, Oluwaniyi research why about half of college students depart engineering applications.
“If agricultural engineering helps feed the world, then engineering education research helps shape the people who will build that world,” he stated.
The slam is a component of the annual Student Research Days and is co-sponsored by the Office of Research and Innovation, Office of Graduate Studies, and the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.