AIBS Announces Winners of Faces of Biology Photo Competition

Photo Contest Promotes Public Appreciation of Biological Research

RESTON, Va., Dec. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) has selected three individuals as winners of its 2013 Faces of Biology: Broader Impacts Photo Contest.  This is the third year AIBS has sponsored the competition.

The program is an opportunity for members of the scientific community to showcase for the public the broader impacts of the biological sciences, including informing natural resources management, addressing climate change, improving human health, or advancing basic human knowledge.

"These excellent photographs will help the public and policymakers better understand the value of biological research and education," said AIBS executive director Richard O'Grady.

The winning photos can be viewed at http://www.aibs.org/public-programs/news/winners-selected-in-2013-faces-of-biology-photo-contest.html.

Andrew Muir, science program manager at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, won First Place.  His winning entry depicts researchers photographing lake trout, research that helps inform fishery restoration efforts in the Great Lakes.

"Photography is an essential tool for the ecologist," said Muir.  "I use photography to create a permanent record of time and place, events, and even of individual specimens.  In addition to being an essential tool, I really try to capture my life as a biologist through the camera."

Second Place was awarded to Benjamin Blonder, a graduate student at the University of Arizona.  His photo shows a student measuring the dimensions of a tree branch from Manu National Park in Peru.  This research will inform predictions about carbon dynamics in forests, information that is important to understanding climate change and how ecosystems work.

Benjamin Drummond, a documentary photographer who specializes in nature and climate change, won Third Place.  Drummond's photo shows an inmate technician with the Sustainability in Prisons Project in Washington State handling an endangered Taylor's checkerspot butterfly that was reared at the prison.

The First Place photo will be featured on the cover of an upcoming issue of the journal BioScience.  Muir will also receive $250.  The Second and Third Place photos will be featured in an article in BioScience.  All three winners receive a one-year membership in AIBS, including a subscription to BioScience.

SOURCE American Institute of Biological Sciences

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