2023 Photo Competition Winners

Here it is, the ever anticipated results of this year’s photo competition.

This year was one of the most successful yet, with 56 applications, highlighting the diverse array of work, hobbies, fungi, plants and animals encountered by you all. We feel very fortunate to have seen each application. We want to thank each and every one of you for your submissions. Every year, the competition to be the new image of the blog is fierce, and this year was no exception.

With 56 applications, we somehow had to create a short list. Thankfully for us, the wonderful Siobhan McDonald, an Irish artist that has collaborated with Trinity’s School of Natural Sciences on numerous occasions, took on this job. Siobhan was tasked with selecting 8 photos, which she did in her stride. Thank you so much Siobhan for selecting such an amazing shortlist – we couldn’t have done it without you!

Next came the task of selecting which one of the 8 would be our winner. This is where you came in. Thank you to everyone who voted on this year’s competition! We had great engagement in the poll, which saw three images constantly battling for the top position. One image in particular started to take the lead, and received over 30% of the votes. Before we jump ahead and announce the new face of EcoEvo, let’s take a look at the top 8, who are all worthy of the title.

The 2023 Shortlist

Blue rayed limpets by Katrin Schertenleib

When snorkeling in Wicklow, I found some of these beautiful, mysterious marine gems: blue-rayed limpets (*Patella pellucida*) sitting between encrusting bryozoans on some serrated wrack. Their bright blue, iridescent stripes are marvellous to look at and reflect far under water. The stripes are caused by special mineralized (not organic) structures in the limpet shells and might be some mimicry to trick potential predators (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7322).

Katrin is a PhD student in Zoology, working in the O’Connor lab in the Zoology Dept., who just recently submitted her thesis, and was the winner of last year’s competition. Her Twitter handle is @KatMarSci

Vervet Monkey by Niamh McCartan

This image was taken at a campsite on Lake Baringo, Kenya, in October 2018 while on a field course trip with the Zoology Department.

Niamh is a PhD student in the Luijckx Lab in the Zoology Dept., researching disease dynamics and outbreaks on host-parasite interactions in Daphnia magna.

Proboscis pollination by Elena Zioga

The plant *Lilium chalcedonicum* can be found in Greece, parts of Italy and Albania. This lily has an interesting way of ensuring pollination. The blooms hang downward, offering nowhere for pollinators to perch, so this lily is usually pollinated by insects with a long proboscis. These include moths, like Zygaena ephialtes which fly from bloom to bloom, and suck out the nectar with their long proboscis. In the picture, you may observe its proboscis rolled under its head.

Elena is a PhD student in the Stout Lab in the Botany Dept., who just recently submitted her thesis, and is evaluating the potential for pesticide contamination of floral resources and its impacts on plant-pollinator relationships as part of the PROTECTS project.

Puffed Robin by Whitney Parker

This robin (Crepe Bench Robin) was trained during a Biodiversity and Conservation master’s thesis project, which tested whether European Robins generalized their experience with familiar food by presenting them with an assortment of food arranged in a color gradient.

Whitney is a PhD student in the Luijckx Lab in the Zoology Dept., researching how disease burden and prevalence differs between Daphnia magna individuals that vary in both genotype and geographic origin.

The Poached Egg Fungus by Luke Quill

Pictured is *Oudemansiella mucida*, known as the poached egg fungus, growing from a tree.

Luke is a PhD student in the lab in the Botany Dept., identifying species of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi that are present in an agro-ecosystem, which will be incorporated into a myco-phytoremediation plan for edge of field control of agricultural runoff.

Facing Upstream by Frank Spellman

Standing on Mendenhall Glacier looking up-glacier towards its source. Pollen from the surrounding coniferous forests of Tongass National Forest add a brown dusting on top of the ice, and low groans echo as the ice slowly moves down the valley.

Frank is a research masters student in the O’Connor lab in the Zoology Dept., applying ecological theory to improve the stability of yields of cultivated macroalgae, and quantifying the ecological impact.

Endophytic filamentous fungi by Diego Bianchi

Fungi isolated from leaves and roots of wild relatives of barley.

Diego is a PHD student in Hodkinson and Murphy group in the Botany Dept., researching Biostimulants and Biopesticides for Crop production.

The Winner Is…..

Eyes up to the sky submitted by Jenny Bortoluzzi

Dr. Aoibheann Gaughran pictured while bird netting in Áras an Uachtaráin as part of the biodiversity survey carried out by the TCD team of ecologists. This image being the winner of the photo competition this year is even more meaningful, as Aoibheann’s bright presence is continually missed in the department. Aoibheann is pictured here doing what she loved, which is how she will always be remembered.

Jenny is a PhD student, who just submitted her thesis, in the Jackson and Payne lab group in the Zoology Dept., focusing on the ecology and conservation of elasmobranchs, studying variation in trophic niches, blue shark feeding ecology, and socio-economic links between angling and conservation in Ireland.

Once again, thank you to everyone who submitted a picture – the competition was very strong! A special thanks again to Siobhan for creating the shortlist and to everyone who voted.

08/11/201908/11/2019

EcoEvo Blog Photo competition winner announcement!

Once again, the time has come for the annual Eco Evo photo competition! The third instalment of the competition saw some wonderful submissions from across the School of Natural Sciences, and the top spot was fiercely contested. Due to their desire to participate, the editors stepped away from the judging process and the shortlisting was conducted by an unbiased third-party and the photos were anonymised. Finally, the vote for the winning photo was put to the Trinity School of Natural Science, again the photos were anonymised.

Read on to see the full gallery of submissions and to find out which photo was chosen as the winner.

A Green turtle swims away with its trusty remora after feeding on seagrass in the Bahamas. Remoras and turtles enjoy a symbiotic relationship as the fish removes parasites and keeps the shell clean while receiving benefits in the form of food, transport and protection.

09/11/201809/11/2018

Eco Evo’s 2nd Annual Photography Competition

Photos have been submitted, votes have been cast, and we are now ready to announce the winner of the Eco Evo Photo Competition! Read on to view the whole gallery of entered photos, with the winner at the end. It was brilliant to receive so many great entries, on such varied subjects. This gallery is a testament to the diverse array of interesting things the people of our Zoology and Botany Departments are involved in.

Continue reading “Eco Evo’s 2nd Annual Photography Competition”

25/05/2015

Time for the pheasant

A reminder for the photo competition. We’ll extend the deadline until the 10th June. You can submit one photograph to this album here. Just log in with username ecoevoblog and password is the same. Don’t make it obvious that it’s your image in case it biases the judge. The theme is ‘Fowl Play’.

Author: Adam Kane, kanead[at]tcd.ie, @P1zPalu

13/04/2015

No time like the pheasant

Let’s run another photo competition. Starting today and running until Monday 18th May anyone can submit one photograph to this album here. Just log in with username ecoevoblog and password is the same. Don’t make it obvious that it’s your image in case it biases the judge. The theme for this month will be ‘Fowl Play’. Prizes will be determined in due course.

Author: Adam Kane, kanead[at]tcd.ie, @P1zPalu

Photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Aves#/media/File:Tauraco_hartlaubi-20081223b.jpg

26/11/201426/11/2014

Still Life Results

We have finally decided on the winner of the Still Life photography competition. The theme was ‘Changing Seasons’ and first place goes to the ‘flooded forest’ which is our featured image today. As the entries were anonymous we don’t know who submitted the image so please make yourself known and gather up the plaudits you so richly deserve.

Update: Our winner has come forward (see the comments). Congratulations to Aoibheann Gaughran of the TCD zoology department!

Author: EcoEvo@TCD

30/10/2014

Still still life

Our photography competition is still open to entries (deadline 10th November). Submit one photograph to the album here. Log in with the username ecoevoblog and password which is the same. Remember, don’t give it a name that will reveal the photographer so as to avoid bias. Good luck!

Author: Adam Kane, kanead[at]tcd.ie, @P1zPalu

Photo credit: wikimedia commons

10/10/201410/10/2014

Still Life

I thought it would be a nice idea to have the occasional photography contest on the blog. So starting today and running until Monday 10th November anyone can submit one photograph to this album here. Just log in with username ecoevoblog and password is the same. Don’t make it obvious that it’s your image in case it biases the judge. The theme for this month will be ‘Changing Seasons’. Prizes will be determined in due course. I just want to say good luck. We’re all counting on you.

Author: Adam Kane, kanead[at]tcd.ie, @P1zPalu

Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn

07/04/201406/04/2019

And to the victor the spoiled

Sometimes something is so obvious we forget to wonder why; why do our fingers resemble prunes when we over-extend our bath time, why don’t humans have a penis bone (stop sniggering in the back please and have a look at these fascinating links) and why do prunes rot when the very purpose of fruit is to be eaten?

I’m guessing that for the last one you might say that fruit rots because all the bacteria have decided that you have overlooked the healthy option for the biscuits one too many times and so have decided to chow down. However there might be more to that horrid smelling milk then a simple bacterial get together according to a new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. It turns out that that this might actually be a tactic by our microbial co-occupants to put us off and so leave the micro-revellers to savour their lactose lunch while we suffer taking our tea and coffee black. Continue reading “And to the victor the spoiled”

31/01/2013

Let the games begin!

We the blog declare that a month of games will commence from tomorrow. The aim is to achieve the most hits for a blog post in a day. The prize will be worth that of a King’s Ransom and will be revealed in good time. Cry havoc, and let slip the blogs of war!

Scribe

Adam Kane: kanead[at]tcd.ie

Photo credit

wikimedia commons