2011 Graduate Student Biological Photo Contest

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This year we are having a friendly photo competition, with winners being announced at the Graduate Student Spring Symposium. Each EEB graduate student can enter one biological photo they have taken, with a short caption including relevant details and the significance of the photo. To enter, send your photo and caption to Frank W. Smith (frank.smith@uconn.edu). A few days before the Spring Symposium (March 19), I'll send a link to the eeb-grad list to an on-line voting site.

2011 Photo Entrants


Photo by James Mickely
This is a photo of a flower bud from Eucalyptus macrocarpa, an odd eucalyptus species with very large leaves and flowers. The bud is about the size of a large grapefruit, and the bright red peeking out is the stamens--the flower has no petals. I took this photo in Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia, where it is native but rather uncommon. - James Mickley













Photo by Brigette Zacharczenko
This is my favorite photo from my recent trip to Ecuador. A member of our group captured this little treefrog (unsure of the species) and brought it to me to photograph. It hopped away and huddled under some rocks, providing the perfect pose. - Brigette Zacharczenko

















Photo by Alyssa Borowske
Working on the CT coast, it is hard to escape the influence of humans. Here, a herring gull, a "trash bird," pics up a piece of trash, yet the scene is somehow beautiful. I took this photo shortly after dawn at the Barn Island boat launch, which is is adjacent to one of my salt marsh field sites. - Alyssa Borowske















Photo by Alejandro Rico Guevara
This is probably one of the most boring species of hummingbirds (in terms of the bright iridescent colors you would like to see in a picture), but I love it because only males have the crazy hook at the very tip of the beak. And no one knows why! My hypothesis: Sexually-dimorphic weapons. I took it in southern Brazil, last year. - Alejandro Rico Guevara














Photo by Laura Cisneros
This photo is a picture of a baby two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) taken in La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. - Laura Cisneros















Photo by Vanessa Boukili
I took this photo on my OTS plant systematics course in 2008. At this point, we are in the Costa Rican páramo, close to the remote field station, Cuerici. I was experimenting with my camera's macro option when I got this shot of mushrooms growing out of a tree. - Vanessa Boukili














Photo by Bill Ryerson
It's a snapping turtle from the Fenton. - Bill Ryerson

















Photo by Sue Meiman
Killdeer. Housatonic River, spring 2008. - Sue Meiman

















Photo by Jessica Budke
This is a photo of the moss Leucobryum albidum growing here in Connecticut. This moss can grow in patches that are large enough to sit upon. When you touch the top of this moss cushion it feels soft and dry. However all of the individuals packed together function as a sponge and store water within the colony. In that way there is moisture available for the moss to undergo photosynthesis even when it is dry on the outer layers. So beware having seat on this mossy cushion, you could end up quite wet.
- Jessica Budke













Photo by Jessie Rack
This was taken on a paleontology field trip to Northern Nevada. During the week we were there, the area received 75% of their yearly rains--which made for soggy camping, but amazing floral and wildlife sightings. I love this picture of blooming prickly pear cacti because the colors are so striking, and because of the background of distant mountains. - Jessie Rack

























Photo by Jon Velotta
This photo is of a humphead wrasse taken near Whitsunday Islands National Park in Australia. Although I swam with a number of them, I have read recently that they are quite threatened. This one was particularly friendly. - Jon Velotta
















Photo by Kevin Burgio
This is the flower of the lowly Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora). I took this photo last summer while working on a breeding bird survey in Southbury, CT. The reason I took the photo was that when I looked at the flowers closely enough, I saw a shock of vivid color inside this generally bland looking (but interesting) plant that I had never noticed before. - Kevin Burgio















Photo by Hamid Razyfard
Hey little beauty! You look amazing. I mean, with your eye-catching color, you can take the breath away from ANYone! OH MY! You’ve just finished your pollination! Congrats! You know what? I sometimes envy you for having such a stress-less lifestyle;-). By the way, can I take your picture?” These are the very thoughts I had when I saw such a beautiful plant on Alborz Mountain in Iran. Glaucium is its name, and it belongs to poppy family. I took the picture in late April, 2008. - Hamid Razyfard













Photo by Adam Wilson
Fly visits the dung-scented sporophytes of Tayloria mirabilis on Navarino Island near Cape Horn, Chile. The moss seems to have evolved the odoriferous sporophytes to attract flies, which facilitate dispersal of the spores (as seen near the eye and on the front legs in the photo) to fresh dung. - Adam Wilson














Photo by Cory Merow
Giraffes seem to have evolved laser technology sometime in the late Pliocene. Though rarely observed, they evidently use this ability to immobilize prey and as a primitive form of x-ray vision. This photograph represents one of the first documentations of their so-called 'dual-frequency' system. - Cory Merow















Photo by Heidi Golden
Arctic Aufeis - Heidi Golden


















Photo by Manette Sandor
Most of the Negev desert is as dry and devoid of vegetation as the distant mountains in the picture. At places, it felt like walking on another planet. When I came across this stream, I was amazed at the lushness of the small patch surrounding it. Near Sde Boker, Israel. - Manette Sandor