Assistant scientist Mariela Pajuelo and photographers Kristen Grace and Jeff Gage were all recently awarded for their photography featuring elements of natural and cultural history.
Pajuelo, who studies sea turtles and is an avid photographer in her free time, submitted a photo of her son inside an Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings to the University of Florida International Center’s 21st annual global culture photo contest. Among 180 submissions, her photo placed 1st in the category of faculty, staff and alumna.
Museum photographer Jeff Gage won 1st place in the science and research category during the monthly image competition hosted by the University Photographers’ Association of America in September. The photo depicts a praying mantis attempting to bridge the distance between the hand it’s perched on and the smartphone being used to photograph it. The photo was one of many taken by Gage during a public event led by curator Vaugh Shirey to find and identify nocturnal insects.
Museum photographer Kristen Grace won third place in the same September competition in the personal vision category. Her photo is of an anhinga, seen at Sweetwater Wetlands Park, with its wings characteristically spread out to dry while it preens its feathers. Grace also placed 4th in the October monthly image contest for her photo of a male cardinal being measured to determine the size of band needed for its leg. She took the photo during a public bird banding event hosted by the Florida Museum and the University of Florida Bird Observatory, in which small metal bands with engraved identification numbers are carefully and harmlessly attached to the legs of birds so that individuals can be tracked if they are spotted again.
Sources: Mariela Pajuelo, mpajuelo@floridamuseum.ufl.edu;
Jeff Gage, jgage@flmnh.ufl.edu;
Kristen Grace, kgrace@floridamuseum.ufl.edu
Media contact: Jerald Pinson, jpinson@flmnh.ufl.edu, 352-294-0452