GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The winning artists’ images ranging from nanoparticles to a Florida Harvester Ant will be recognized in an award ceremony at the University of Florida Marston Science Library on March 30 at 4:30 p.m.

The Elegance of Science contest was judged by a six-member committee from Gainesville’s art and science communities that evaluated 58 entries on their scientific and artistic merit.

“I look for the same things I would look for in art: appealing composition and color, visual interest and movement in the work, and intellectual intrigue,” said judge Ellen Knudson, an associate in book arts at UF’s Special and Area Studies Collections and the School of Art and Art History. “I enjoyed the idea of scientific minds discovering beauty in their own work.”

Florida Museum of Natural History research technician Zachary Randall won first place for his cleared-and-double-stained image of a Bowfin fish. Jonathan Bremer, research assistant at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, won second place for his image of a Florida Harvester Ant captured with a long-distance microscope lens and focus-stacking equipment. Shannon Brown, a doctoral student in UF’s J. Crayton Pruitt Family department of biomedical engineering, took third place for her image “Nanoparticles in drying synovial fluid.”

“It’s uncommon to see a nicely cleared and stained juvenile Bowfin,” Randall said. “Preserved specimens are usually quite large and don’t clear and stain well.”

Randall also won first place last year for his cleared-and-stained image of a smooth butterfly ray.

The competition is for UF students, staff and faculty who create two-dimensional images as part of their research or that feature scientific tools or concepts. The contest stresses the connection between artistic and scientific perceptions of reality.

Honorable mentions were awarded to UF department of biology and Florida Museum graduate student Sarah Allen for her images “Natural wood ‘stained glass’ ” and “Plant Cell Lace;” Bremer for his image “Zeugomantispa minuta;” Brown for her image “Nano-flower” and Mason McGough, a graduate student in UF’s J. Crayton Pruitt Family department of biomedical engineering, for his images “Muscle Prism” and “Muscle in Green.”

Prizes include $150 for first place, $100 for second place and $50 for third place. The winning entries will be displayed in the Florida Museum. All entries may be viewed at www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/elegance-science/past-entries/2015.

Open to the public, the award ceremony and brief presentations by contest participants about the science behind their works will be held at the Marston Science Library in room L136, 444 Newell Drive, on the UF campus from 4:30-6 p.m.

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Writer: Elizabeth Brown, ebrown@flmnh.ufl.edu
Sources: Andrei Sourakov, asourakov@flmnh.ufl.edu, 352-273-2013
Amy Buhler, amybuhl@uflib.ufl.edu, 352-273-2879
Media contact: Paul Ramey, pramey@flmnh.ufl.edu, 352-273-2054