The theme for this year’s UW Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition was impact, which can be defined as the positive outcome of a critical intervention, social policy, service provision model, legal framework, or technological innovation. The 12 competitors this year showed the importance of impact at the graduate level with topics ranging from understanding human and robotic collaboration in the surgical room to exploring the health impacts of music in classrooms. The abundance of inquisitive minds made the judge’s decision especially challenging.
Sarah Pollack, a master’s student in Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management, was this year’s winner. She is currently working on the Arbor Harbor project at the UW, focusing on stopping and tracking the illegal trade of mahogany wood into the U.S. A collaborative initiative involving various federal agencies such as the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Arbor Harbor focuses on monitoring and controlling the import of non-food plant products into the U.S. The project’s primary aim is to combat illegal logging, a practice that has devastating effects on both the environment and local communities worldwide.
Sarah’s work involves identifying mismatches between declared species of wood and the countries where they supposedly originated from. Her project uses computer models to sift through the vast number of import declarations and flag those that may need further inspection. For example, if a tropical hardwood is declared as being harvested in Canada, it would be marked as a red flag. She focused on American mahogany, which is endangered and highly valuable, making it a prime target for illegal trade. Her work not only stops illegal trade and reduces financial gain for illegal logging, but it also helps flag other mislabeled shipments, which might involve other tropical hardwoods being passed off as American mahogany.
When Sarah learned about UW 3MT’s theme, she knew her project was beneficial and impactful to the public. “The primary concern is deforestation, and I know people care about the environment,” Sarah says. “But I don’t think people understand how impactful illegal logging is and the negative impacts on local communities.” Often, illegal trade is run by criminal groups who rely on acts of violence or intimidation in these communities, which motivates Sarah’s work. She wants to ensure they cannot gain economic incentives in the U.S. and safeguard fair competition in the wood industry.
While Sarah is currently focused on completing the Arbor Harbor project and finishing her master’s, she is also considering her future in the field. She has expressed interest in continuing her work with her current team and principal investigator at UW, and is also open to working with federal agencies like APHIS or Customs and Border Protection, where she could apply her expertise to broader enforcement efforts.
By Tatiana Rodriguez, UW Graduate School
Published on July 1, 2024