15 November 2024
Teagasc unveils winners of Research and Innovation photo competition 2024
An image titled ‘The Irish green’ was officially announced as the overall winner of Teagasc’s Vision of Research and Innovation photography competition at an event in Oak Park House, Carlow on Wednesday, 13 November.
The aim of the competition is to identify the most innovative and compelling images showing the range of research and innovation activities taking place across Teagasc.
Dr Marta Niedzick, the winner of Teagasc’s Vision of Research and Innovation photography competition, pictured with Professor Frank O’Mara, Director of Teagasc.
The winning image was taken by Dr Marta Niedzicka, a postdoctoral researcher at Teagasc Oak Park, Carlow. It shows an array of green grass samples in test tubes, awaiting analysis in the Crops Science Department in Oak Park. This work represents a fundamental step in Teagasc’s work in Integrated Pest Management strategies.
When asked about her piece, Marta said: “Photography gives us a chance to pause and to reflect on a specific moment in time – and here I captured my moment of reflection, as these samples are a slice of the greenery that we often stop noticing, seen through the lens of the laboratory analysis.”
The competition, which has been running since 2015, is open to all Teagasc staff and students with entrants aiming to visually capture the wide variety of research innovations related to their area of work.
This year’s competition attracted 38 entries (who entered 74 images) with the top 12 selected for an exhibition held in Teagasc Head Office in Oak Park House on Wednesday night. Attendees at the event were also treated to a guided tour of the historical building and former home of MP Henry Bruen by former farm manager at Teagasc Oak Park John Hogan.
The 12 winning images featured in the exhibition were:
- ‘Fresh apples glistening after the Irish rain’ by Jean do Prado
- ‘Outstanding in her field’ by Rachel Doyle & Eliza Murphy
- ‘The Irish green’ by Marta Niedzicka
- ‘Potato fields in summer’ by Katie Hetherington
- ‘Crafting pea bread’ by Bárbara Biduski & Mariana Macas
- ‘The Sea and the Slob’ by Charlotte Morgan
- ‘Under the microscope: β-glucan rich cell walls of an oat kernel’ by Nefeli Lampoglou Daniela Freitas, Andre Brodkorb, and Atikur Rahman
- ‘Farmed to fork’ and ‘Ziplining dungfly’ by Maximilian Schughart
- ‘Life from decay – A microcosm of biodiversity in a forest’ by Dheeraj Rathore
- ‘Sheep graze beneath the timeless peaks of Ben Bulben’ by Karla Burke
- ‘When pigs can choose where to nap’ by Ophelie Menant
These images will be included in the annual Teagasc calendar, which will be delivered to stakeholders before Christmas.
This year’s Vision of Research and Innovation photography competition was judged by a panel comprising Catriona Boyle, Teagasc, editor of TResearch magazine; Ronan Bree, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Science Lecturer & Project Manager; and Chaosheng Zhang, University of Galway, Professor of Geography.
Speaking at the event, Teagasc Director, Professor Frank O’Mara welcomed the attendees to the event, and congratulated all the finalists on the quality of the images they captured during the course of their work.
“Teagasc conducts excellent research and we strive to communicate the outcomes of that research to stakeholders and the public. The finalists captured the diverse range of research undertaken by Teagasc, and it’s great to see such a strong focus on sustainability and biodiversity in the winning images,” he said.
The Vision of Research exhibition at Teagasc Head Office is part of Science Week at Teagasc, which runs from November 11-16, 2024. The full programme of Science Week events can be found here.