Hilda Canter-Lund Photography Award 2009

This award was established by the British Phycological Society in recognition of Hilda Canter-Lund, whose stunning photographs will be known to many members.  Her photomicrographs of freshwater algae combined high technical and aesthetic qualities whilst still capturing the quintessence of the organisms she was studying.  

The BPS Council offers an annual award (currently £150) for a photograph on a phycological theme that best combines these informative, technical and aesthetic qualities.   It can be of a micro- or macroalga, marine or freshwater, taken by any photographic medium.  The competition is open to all (not just BPS members) with a closing date of 31 November each year.   Shortlisted photographs will be placed on the BPS website and the winner will be announced at the Annual Winter Meeting.

Here are some fine examples of Hilda's work (click on pictures for larger images; left, Euglena; right, Dinobryon)

Winner 2009 — Dr Mariano Sironi

"This a southern right whale mother with her calf swimming along the shores of Peninsula Valdes in Argentina. As they move their tails, a green tide (tentatively composed of Lepidodinium sp.) swirls behind them. Algal blooms are becoming more frequent in the bays of Peninsula Valdes, where southern right whales gather each year to give birth and nurse their calves. I took this photograph from an aeroplane flying at an altitude of 150 m while I conducted our annual aerial photoidentification survey of this whale population, in collaboration with the Whale Conservation Institute / Instituto de Conservacion de Ballenas."

Dr. Mariano Sironi received a degree in Biology from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina, where he is an Associate Professor in Vertebrate Zoology. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, where he obtained his Ph.D. degree in Zoology studying the behavior and social development of juvenile southern right whales at Península Valdés in Patagonia. Since 1995 he is a researcher with the Right Whale Program of the Whale Conservation Institute, the longest continuous study in the world based on the identification of known individual whales. He is a Founding Member and Scientific Director of the Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas, a non-profit organization based in Buenos Aires, dedicated to the conservation of whales and their habitat through research and education. Mariano participated in documentaries about cetaceans in Patagonia in collaboration with IMAX, Discovery Channel and National Geographic Society, among others. He lives in Córdoba, Argentina. The judges comment was that this picture had a “simple yet elegant composition, which illustrates how microscopic organisms may have an impact that belies their size.” His e-mail is msironi@icb.org.ar

Other shortlisted images for 2009

These are the other short-listed images (in no particular order; click on each one for an expanded version and the legend):

Contact details

Bruun: Nostoca Algae Laboratory, 7770 Springridge Road N.E., Bainbridge Island WA 9810 USA, skogenman@earthlink.net

Hernandez: Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas-IPN, Ap. Postal 592, La Paz, Baja California Sur. Mexico, gcarmona2007@gmail.com

Horeau: Galice Hoarau, Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, Høgskolen i Bodø, Norway, www.galice.nl http://www.galice.nl ; galice.horeau@hibo.no

Rieken: Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA, chris.rieken@gmail.com

Rasconi: Laboratoire microorganismes genome et environment, Aubiere, France, latestuggine@gmail.com