Rausser College 2024 Photo Contest Winners

Bob Kitten Playing at the Pond—Vishal Subramanyan, Ecosystem Management and Forestry Undergraduate. I captured this photograph of a bobcat kitten playing at the edge of a pond in UC Berkeley's Blue Oak Ranch Reserve. The photo was taken with a DSLR camera trap, which is a motion-triggered camera that captures pictures of wildlife as they walk through the area. I took this photo as part of my senior thesis research in the Diablo Range.

Vigilance—Sanoja Sridevan, Molecular Environmental Biology Undergraduate. While doing research on the nesting behavior and development of tree swallows to monitor the restoration of Ballona Wetlands, I caught this mother tree swallow (indicated by the glossy teal head and back) incubating her eggs.

Pallid Bat Drinking from a Desert Pool—Eric Heisey, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management PhD Student. It's hard to find water in the Sonoran Desert. Any small puddle attracts animals, and bats visit this pond every night to drink. As part of a summer internship with a professional photographer, I spent three weeks pointing my camera at this pond, using remote triggers to illuminate passing bats. At long last, I got the result I was hoping for, a bat reflected perfectly in the pond, with water droplets spraying all around. The photography methods I learned here will be applied to visually capture my research here at Berkeley.

Barn Owl in Pasture—Mel Blandino, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management PhD Student. I took this photo in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as a part of my current dissertation research. I use drones and remote sensing technology to study restored wetlands and how their restoration supports bird populations.

A crabby discovery—Aaron Guo, Molecular Environmental Biology Undergraduate. The image was taken on the island of Moorea where two students (myself and my friend) discovered the molt of a thin-shelled rock crab. This image is connected to CNR as the Moorea program is an ESPM program that encourages students to be research-oriented and curious.

Darkfield Wonder—Yaeko Long, Genetics and Plant Biology Undergraduate. In PLANTBI 110, we get time in the lab to observe the fungi we've collected. This specimen was from one of my mold plates, and I believe it is a type of Epicoccum. I enjoy playing with light, and the orange hues of this specimen made for the perfect toy in Darkfield.

Skiff on west Amatuli Island—Steven Zeng, Environmental Science Undergraduate. During my gap year, I worked at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and had the opportunity to go see part of the refuge's islands. Being able to see how beautiful nature could be heavily inspired my decision to apply to RCNR when considering going to university.

Strawberry’s Sweet—Gary Dai, Society and Environment Undergraduate. This is a picture I took of Strawberry Creek as I was investigating the water quality and environment of the creek.

Tooth Morphology—Stephanie Diaz, Molecular Environmental Biology Undergraduate. I went to Costa Rica in the Fall of 2023 and studied the differences in tooth morphology between two bat species of the same genera, Sturnira mordax and Sturnira hondurensis. Because those two bats are very similar, understanding their tooth morphology can help you identify which species you are looking at; this image demonstrates bilobed central incisors indicating that it is, in fact, a Sturnira mordax.

That’s Not a Leaf—Sophie Hanson, Environmental Science, Policy and Management PhD Student. To study their rapid strikes, our research group collected scorpions at night by using ultraviolet light. Under normal white light, these animals are incredibly well-camouflaged and near-impossible to spot. This image shows how under a black light, scorpions glow spectacularly and their imposing body become easily visible.

Whirlpool of Waste—Sophia Garcia, Environmental Economics and Policy Undergraduate. My piece is centered around plastic and oil pollution in the ocean and how harmful it is to marine ecosystems. To me, it portrays the dolphin starving itself because there is nothing but garbage in the ocean to eat. In the top left corner, there is a school of fish swimming in the garbage, and the bottom left corner depicts a corroded oil barrel sitting on the ocean floor. I scattered bits of plastic from single-use silverware around the piece to add more texture and represent our human impact.

Striped shore crab—Marlee Meek, Molecular Environmental Biology and Genetics and Plant Biology ‘24. The RCNR Wildlife Society at Cal emphasizes inclusivity and accessibility to all students interested in wildlife and ecology, often introducing students to and hosting workshops for creative outlets that intersect with traditional ecological research such as wildlife photography. During the club’s yearly camping trip to MacKerricher State Park, group members were encouraged to participate in wildlife photography as part of a citizen self-reporting science event to add observations to iNaturalist for general research purposes while tide-pooling. Seals, seabirds, and several species of crab were observed including this particularly colorful striped shore crab.

Collecting microbial biomass in Acid Mine Drainage—Luis Valentin Alvarado, Plant and Microbial Biology PhD Alum. This is an image of Jill Banfield and myself collecting biomass on the AMD site in the Richmond mine. This place is special in the field of metagenomics, the first genome reconstructed from a metagenome came from here. The photo looks like science fiction!

Water droplet on Oxalis oregana—Nikita Bahadur, Molecular Environmental Biology Undergraduate. This is one of 257 similar images I took as part of my senior thesis research project in the RCNR Honors Program, to study the contact angle of water on several California native plants adapted to fog conditions. The contact angle information will be used in conjunction with my data on foliar water uptake, the ability of a plant to absorb water through its leaves, to see if there is a connection between leaf wettability and capacity for foliar water uptake and how it varies across my 5 study species and different treatment groups. This image shows the abaxial face of an Oxalis oregana leaflet collected at the UC Botanical Garden, with its characteristic purple hue and prominent trichomes. The 2uL of water is a nearly perfect sphere, indicating a very hydrophobic surface. I find the effect to be rather beautiful, as the light passing through the droplet gives it the appearance of glowing at the bottom, and the plant surface with its trichomes can be seen in a detail that is not detectable at a passing glance. The image was taken on iPhone XR with an attached macro lens.