Nebraska psychology student Max Lottes delivered a spirited defense of often-maligned cortisol — a diva, to be sure, but a necessary one in moderation — to win the grand prize at the 2026 Student Research Days Slam on April 9.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln slam, celebrating its 10th year, features undergraduate and graduate students presenting their research in energetic five-minute talks, with the audience selecting a winner.
Cortisol, a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands atop the kidneys, acts as the body’s primary stress regulator. It also helps manage metabolism, blood sugar, blood pressure and immune response. Chronic stress can keep cortisol levels high, contributing to weight gain and anxiety, while low levels can cause fatigue and low blood pressure.
Lottes framed cortisol as “Courtney Sol” in his talk, “Courtney Sol: The Untold Story of the Infamous Adrenocortical Steroid Hormone,” leaning into its reputation 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 said.
He explained their “relationship” in metabolic terms: cortisol pushes sugar into the bloodstream for energy, while insulin removes and stores 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 reputation, Lottes said cortisol is misunderstood.
“In moderation, she really isn’t the villain the media makes her out to be,” he said. “If you’ve got things to be stressed about, stress is exactly the emotion you want.”
Lottes was one of five students in this year’s slam. In the last decade, the event has featured 47 participants from 23 departments and seven colleges, said Jocelyn Bosley, research impact coordinator and emcee.
Four other students also presented as part of the slam.
Prabhashis Bose, a graduate student in food science and technology, explored the gut microbiome in “What’s Causing Your Gut Feeling?”
He described food science as “the conversation between what you eat and who you become,” adding that the gut is where that conversation is most complex.
Microbes in the gut play a central role in health, producing neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Nearly 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut, not the brain, Bose said.
“We assume the brain is in charge,” he said. “But most signals on the gut-brain highway travel from the gut to the brain.”
His research examines Nebraska-grown crops — corn, sorghum and Great Northern beans — and how they affect microbial communities in different individuals.
Zenebu Derbew, a graduate student in civil and environmental engineering, presented “Smart Sands: Giving ‘Forever’ Chemicals an Expiration Date.”
Holding up a glass of water, she challenged the audience to reconsider what looks clean.
PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” are linked to health risks including cancer, thyroid disease and reduced fertility, and have been detected in most Americans. Because they do not break down in the environment, they persist in everyday products such as nonstick pans and waterproof materials.
Derbew is developing “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 said, allowing faster, more efficient design.
Babatunde Okunlola, a graduate student in journalism and mass communications, focused on the short lifespan of news in “From Temporal to Timeless.”
Even major stories often fade within days, he said, creating challenges for in-depth reporting.
Drawing on his experience as a journalist in Nigeria, Okunlola described reporting on illegal gold mining that contaminated the Osun River. Though his work led to policy changes, the impact was short-lived as attention faded and mining resumed.
He later created the Saving the Osun River Project, a digital archive documenting years of environmental damage.
“Journalism has a timestamp,” he said. “Digital humanities gave me the tools to make important work last.”
Oluwamayowa Oluwaniyi, a graduate student in mechanical and materials engineering, presented “More Than a Tractor, More Than a Survey.”
He said people often misunderstand agricultural engineering as simple farm work.
“They didn’t see the thermodynamics of crop preservation or the fluid mechanics of irrigation,” he said.
Now pursuing engineering education research, Oluwaniyi studies why about half of students leave engineering programs.
“If agricultural engineering helps feed the world, then engineering education research helps shape the people who will build that world,” he said.
The slam is part 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.
