Winners of 25th annual photo contest announced
For 25 years, the annual photo contest at William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS has recognized the most noteworthy images captured by Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS faculty, staff and students while in the field and laboratory. The selection committee reviewed a record 197 submissions to select one overall Grand Prize winner, as well as five category winners and seven honorable mentions. This year's categories included "Marine Life," "People at Work," "Students," "Landscapes and Seascapes" and "Microscopic."
To view high-resolution versions of this year's winning entries and honorable mentions, scroll through our online gallery.
The 2024 grand prize, which stood out across all categories, was awarded to Matteson Mainor, a scientist in the Hale Lab Group. His photo, Beautiful Day on the Lafayette River, featured a Batten School & VIMS research vessel floating alongside seagrass on still, sunlit waters. Mainor took the photo while sampling mummichog killifish and sediment for the Elizabeth River Project.
In the competitive Marine Life category, Ph.D. student Miguel Montalvo took home the top prize for his photo, Blue Crab Mating, which captured two algae-specked blue crabs.
Ph.D. student Matt LaGanke won the People at Work category with his photo, Jordan, which featured Jordan Lynch, a former research manager in the Commercial Shellfish Aquaculture Lab. In the photo, taken just offshore of the Batten School & VIMS campus, Lynch measures water parameters at the Commercial Shellfish Research Farm.
The winner of the Students category was Ph.D. student Alyson Hall. Her photo, Mission Launch, captured M.S. student Grace Breitenbeck launching a research drone.
First place in the popular Landscapes and Seascapes category was awarded to Events Coordinator Jade Sevelow-Lee for her photo, Moonrise Over ESL. The image showcases the beauty of the Eastern Shore Lab (ESL), located in Wachapreague, Virginia.
Finally, M.S. student Ashley Rose took home the top prize in the Microscopic category with her image, Microscopic Mussel Settler, which featured a 6-week old ribbed mussel juvenile on a blade of smooth cordgrass. The mussel was spawned and reared at the Acuff Center for Aquaculture.
The selection committee was led by Graphic Designer and Media Production Supervisor Sue Stein, who has organized and implemented the contest every year since its inception. "For twenty five years now, the Photo Contest has been an excellent way to feature all of the dynamic work being done by our staff and researchers, including our enthusiastic graduate students," said Stein. "And in this milestone year, it was exciting to receive so many photo entries, which shows how much people enjoy and appreciate our annual competition."
The selection committee also awarded seven photos with honorable mentions:
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Anna DeMotte – “Oysterplex and Osprey Nest at Sunrise”
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Alyson Hall – “Water Stargrass Reflection”
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Ima Hosseinzadeh – “Washington State Geoduck Farm”
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Miguel Montalvo – “Hogchoker Scales”
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Victoria Nutt – “VIMS Osprey”
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Claire Rae – “The Shoreline Guru and King of the Marsh”
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Rochelle Seitz – “REU Intern Excited about the Whelk”
A "People's Choice Award" contest was also held on the Batten School & VIMS Facebook page, where the winning image that garnered the most likes was Jade Sevelow-Lee's Moonrise Over ESL photograph.
As in previous years, all submitted photos may be used by the in publications, outreach materials and website pages.