50th Anniversary Prize – Faculty of Education: Learning to Live (Not Walking in Line) - Theodore Christou, Faculty, Faculty of Education, Thessaloniki, Greece. Description: The history of research and scholarship in education is a record of our efforts to make sense of the world. How ought we to live? What should we learn, embrace and resist? From antiquity to anarchism, or, from Aristotle to Pink Floyd, we have known that we should never confuse schooling with education. Schools, whether they are traditional, progressive, colonial or transgressive, have all been instruments of oppression as well as resistance.
125th Anniversary Prize – Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science: A New Light - Robert Cichocki PhD student, Civil Engineering, GeoEngineering Lab, Queen's. Description: Tired of seeing roads being dug up to replace aging pipe infrastructure? Civil engineering research at Queen’s is bringing a new light to innovative, no-dig rehabilitation techniques. In this image, a UV light train is being prepared to help rehabilitate the adjacent corrugated steel pipe. The inside of the pipe has been lined with a fabric fiberglass tube embedded with UV cure resin. When the light train passes through the tube, the UV cures the resin solid and transforms the fabric tube into a solid liner. The new liner and pipe will further undergo buried experiments that will bring new insight into the structural behaviour of these systems.- People’s Choice – Nano-dendrite Collision - Hannah Dies, MD/PhD student, Chemical Engineering, Dupuis Hall, Queen's. Description: This scanning electron microscopy image depicts branched gold nanostructures (“nano-dendrites”) growing from planar microelectrode tips and crashing halfway, buckling upwards to create a third dimension of nano-features. The structures assemble from gold nanoparticles under the influence of an applied electric field, similar to how iron filings assemble under the influence of a magnetic field. The gold nanoparticle building blocks are 50nm in diameter – about 5000 times smaller than a human hair. The branched network formed by these nanostructures promotes incredible sensitivity for small molecule detection by means of Raman spectroscopy. At the QuSENS laboratory, and with the startup company Spectra Plasmonics Inc., we use these nanostructures to detect illicit drugs, pesticides and explosives at ultralow and societally relevant concentrations.
- Art in Action – Keep Cool Boy - The Jets Aloft in West Side Story: Tim Fort, Faculty, Dan School of Drama and Music, Weston Playhouse, Weston Vermont. Description: In a rare moment, before a Franz Kline inspired setting, the Jets achieve a perfectly synchronized lift-off in this production of West Side Story mounted in celebration of Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday. After 46 seasons at the Weston Playhouse in Vermont, this production also represented my 60th (and final) happy entanglement directing mostly musical theatre works on the playhouse's historical stage. Twenty-seven performers – from newly-minted conservatory graduates to Broadway veterans – enabled this epic work to fly.
- Community Collaborations – Women in Mathematics - Stefanie Knebel , PhD student, Mathematics and Statistics, Jeffrey Hall, Queen's. Description: Mathematical thinking is about finding patterns and structure. As a woman in the mathematics PhD program, I hope to inspire young women to follow their passion and find beauty in mathematics. At Queen’s we offer the MathQuest camp for high school girls. As captured in the photo, I am brainstorming ways to teach game theory and linear algebra. This is also a part of my research with Dr. Peter Taylor, where we work with teachers across Ontario looking for innovative ways to incorporate mathematical thinking in education. We hope to change the math curriculum by making it a more engaging, positive and memorable experience.
- Best Description – Lights, Camera, Action: Wolfie’s Story - Marian Luctkar-Flude, Faculty, School of Nursing, Glaxo Wellcome Clinical Education Centre, Queen’s. Description: "Lights, Camera, Action: Wolfie's Story" is a photo depicting the filming of a virtual simulation game about an older gay man grieving the loss of his partner of over 30 years. The game is part of the "Make it Better for All" Developing and Evaluating Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Nursing Virtual Simulation Games project, led by Dr. Marian Luctkar-Flude, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing. This innovative CIHR-funded research project aims to develop and evaluate a series of virtual simulation games to provide education for nurses and nursing students on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI). Four full games and four mini-games will be hosted on the SOGI-Nursing website along with other resources to promote cultural humility in nursing interactions with LGBTQI2S persons.
- Out in the Field – First Emergence - Ivana Schoepf, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Biology, Queen's University Biological Station. Description: My research focuses on the effects that avian malarial parasites have on female reproductive success and offspring quality. To assess how malarial infection affects mothers and their offspring, I spent the spring and summer in the field at the Queen's University Biological Station catching female, adult red-winged blackbirds and treated them with either an antimalarial medication or a control solution. Female reproductive success was determined by looking at a variety of parameters, including incubation behaviour, which was measured using I-buttons (as seen in the photo). If experimental reduction of infection leads to higher reproductive success in females, I expected to find medicated females to be able to spend more time incubating their eggs. Our preliminary analysis shows that this was indeed the case.
- Invisible Discoveries – Love under the Microscope - Dalila Villalobos, Postgraduate Medical Education, Anatomical Pathology (MD, Resident), Kingston Health Sciences Centre. Description: As pathologists in training, we are constantly reminded that both human cellular responses and the most deadly medical conditions can be unexpectedly beautiful under the microscope. We are trained to be detail oriented and to understand disease in all its forms because abnormalities will only present to the eye that knows what to look for. This photo captures a normal prostatic gland with its characteristic double layer and irregular branching. The moment we diagnose a benign condition in a patient that is anxiously awaiting for results is always rewarding. But, if, on top of that, we see heart-shape glands, it is inspiration.
It was a record-breaking year for the Art of Research photo contest. The 2019 contest received more than 100 submissions from Queen’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni, who took up the challenge of capturing their research programs in engaging and thought-provoking ways.
Hosted by the Office of the Vice-Principal (University Relations), the Art of Research is an annual competition that provides a unique and accessible method of sharing and celebrating the ground-breaking research happening at Queen’s. With submissions this year representing each faculty, the contest showcases the beauty and creativity of research across all disciplines.
“The Art of Research is central to our efforts to raise awareness of the breadth and depth of critical research happening at Queen’s,” says Michael Fraser, Vice-Principal (University Relations). “The success of this year’s competition is a testament to the permeation of this campaign, and we are delighted to be able to share with results with the campus community, and beyond.”
Prizes were awarded to the top submission in the six categories of Community Collaborations, Invisible Discoveries, Out in the Field, Art in Action, Best Description, and People’s Choice. An adjudication committee of representatives across the university selected the winners and an online poll (1,100 votes) of the Queen’s community determined the People’s Choice winner.
The 2019 contest also celebrated the significant anniversaries of two Queen’s faculties by awarding special prizes. To celebrate its 125th anniversary of engineering education at Queen’s, the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science prize was awarded to the submission that best demonstrates how engineering-specific pursuits are likely to affect positive change in our daily lives. Additionally, the Queen’s Faculty of Education prize, to commemorate the faculty’s 50 years of excellence, was awarded to the photo that celebrates the photography of students, faculty, staff or alumni as they pursue research in education.
Part of the university’s integrated research promotion campaign, the Art of Research is showcased across a variety of research initiatives, including campus beautification displays, research collateral and other materials. Past winners of the contest are featured in a travelling pop-up photo exhibit, which has travelled to over 25 locations and events since September 2018, including the Canadian Science Policy Conference and alumni events.
For more information on the contest, and to view past winners, please visit the website or contact researchcommunications@queensu.ca.