With a reimagined focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the annual Queen's Art of Research photo contest reveals seven winning images.
From photos depicting the nanoscale to the freezing landscape of the Artic, the annual Art of Research photo contest takes us behind the scenes of the everyday research experience at Queen’s. With engagement this year from faculty, staff, students, and alumni, the contest aims to represent the diversity and creativity of Queen’s research across disciplines and from all contributors to the research ecosystem.
The 2022 contest introduced five new categories inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Guided by the mission and vision of the new Queen’s Strategy and the universal call to action of the SDGs, this year’s contest placed a spotlight on the intrinsic connection between research and social impact. Discover this year’s winners below and to view more contest winners and top submissions from the past six years, explore The Art of Research Photo Gallery.
2022 Art of Research Adjudication Committee
- Nancy Ross, Vice-Principal (Research)
- Kanonhsyonne - Janice Hill, Associate Vice-Principal (Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation)
- Nicholas Mosey, Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Arts and Science
- Heidi Ploeg, QFEAS Chair for Women in Engineering, Mechanical and Materials Engineering
- Ruth Dunley, Associate Director, Editorial Strategy, Office of Advancement
- Jung-Ah Kim, PhD Student, Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies
- Melinda Knox, Director, Thought Leadership and Strategic Initiatives, University Relations
- Véronique St-Antoine, Communications Advisor, NSERC
![The SNO+ detector [Photo of the SNO+ detector at SNOLAB by Dr. Alex Wright]](/research/sites/default/files/assets/featured_story/Wright%20A_2022_1000x.jpg)
Category: Innovation for Global Impact
The SNO+ Detector
Submitted by:ÌýDr. Alex WrightÌýfor the SNO+ Collaboration
Faculty, Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy
Location: SNOLAB, Sudbury, Ontario
The SNO+ experiment studies the fundamental properties of neutrinos. The detector consists of an active volume of 780 tonnes of liquid scintillator housed within a 12-metre diameter acrylic vessel that is held in place by ropes and viewed by an array of about 10,000 photomultiplier light detectors. In this image, taken by a camera embedded in the photomultiplier array, the detector is illuminated only by light from the clean room at the top of the vessel neck, producing a beam effect. The SNO+ experiment is currently collecting data, carrying on the work of the Nobel-prize winning Sudbury Neutrino Observatory.
![The tiniest tree of life [Photo of 3D images of vascular trees in animal models using VECTor4CT by Dr. Elahe Alizadeh]](/research/sites/default/files/assets/featured_story/Alizadeh_2022_1000x.jpg)
Category: Good Health and Well-Being
The Tiniest Tree of Life
Submitted by:Ìý
Staff, Queen's CardioPulmonary Unit (QCPU), Department of MedicineÌý
Location:ÌýQueen's CardioPulmonary Unit
COVID-19, the second pandemic of the current century, is still an ongoing global health emergency. Its complications and mortality are associated with pneumonia and alterations in the pulmonary vasculature. Acquiring 3D images of vascular trees in animal models provide a useful tool to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 in humans. In our research aimed at finding new drugs for COVID-19 under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Archer, vascular trees of a mouse were pressure perfused to maximal dilation with a radio-opaque material (barium). The heart and lungs were fixed and scanned using VECTor4CT scanner. VECTor4CT is the first tri-modality imaging system equipped with an ultra-high-resolution micro-computed tomography (µCT) scanner at Queen’s University.
![George Konana collecting ice [Photo of George Konana collecting ice photographer by Saskia de Wildt]](/research/sites/default/files/assets/featured_story/de%20Wildt_2022_1000x.jpg)
Category: Creative and Sustainable Communities
George Konana Collecting Ice
Submitted by:ÌýSaskia de Wildt
PhD Student, School of Environmental Studies
Location:ÌýGjoa Haven, Nunavut
The Inuit practice an ongoing relationship with the land through camping, hunting, and fishing. As part of the BearWatch project, I explore how such knowledge, accumulated over many generations, and Inuit values can be ethically engaged in a community-based polar bear monitoring program. This picture is taken on one of our trips out on the land around Gjoa Haven during spring 2022. It captures George Konana collecting ice from the lake for tea. He traces ice with the right quality to give his tea a nice ‘reddish, brown’ color. At this exact moment, he cracks out a huge piece, enough for a month of tea.
![Gastropod mummy [Photo of a gastropod mummy by Ruqaiya Yousif]](/research/sites/default/files/assets/featured_story/Yousif_2022_1000x.jpg)
Category: Climate Action
Gastropod Mummy
Submitted by:ÌýRuqaiya Yousif
PhD Student, Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering
Location:ÌýQatar
This is a picture of a gastropod mummy layingÌýdown her egg cases.ÌýMy research assesses the stableÌýisotope (C and O), clumped isotope (∆47), and trace elementÌýcompositions of living and quaternary shells from theÌýArabian/Persian Gulf. The aim is to link these analyses withÌýmodern oceanographic data to develop a robust proxy forÌýunderstanding oceanographic change in the rock record. In other words, I am trying to link the shell chemistry with itsÌýsurrounding environment and then use this link to assessÌýoceanographic changes over the past 125,000 years. At the time ofÌýthis picture, we were growing gastropods under laboratoryÌýconditions and performing invitro fertilization of oysters.
![Polar Bear Denning [Photo of a researcher collecting environmental DNA from a maternal polar bear by Scott Arlidge]](/research/sites/default/files/assets/featured_story/Arlidge_2022_1000x.jpg)
Category: Partnerships for Inclusivity (Tied)
Polar Bear Denning
Submitted by:ÌýScott Arlidge
Graduate Student, School of Environmental Studies
Location:ÌýCoral Harbour, Nunavut
This photo demonstrates the collection of snow from inside a maternal polar bear den to collect environmental DNA. When the mother digs out the den, skin cells from her paws are abraded and stuck to the snow. Some preliminary research shows that we may be able to identify individual bears by analyzing these snow samples, information which can inform polar bear population management. My research is a pilot of ground-based non-invasive polar bear monitoring techniques, with a focus on Inuit inclusivity. Inuit Elders and polar bear hunters are key knowledge holders and collaborators throughout this research.
![Aging with Oasis [Photo of a mural depicting the Oasis logo by Riley Malvern]](/research/sites/default/files/assets/featured_story/Malvern_2022_1000x.jpg)
Category: Partnerships for Inclusivity (Tied)
Aging with Oasis
Submitted by:Ìý
Staff, Health Services and Policy Research Institute
Location:ÌýKingston, Ontario
Oasis is a program co-developed by older adults to strengthen and sustain their communities to support aging in place. The Oasis Evaluation and Expansion research team has been working with Oasis communities since 2018 to expand the program across Canada and to evaluate a number of health and well-being outcomes. This photo depicts a mural that represents the power of communities coming together. Each square of this mural was designed by an Oasis member from communities across Kingston and Belleville. Together, these squares form the Oasis logo, which was designed by members of the original Oasis community.
![](/research/sites/default/files/assets/featured_story/Reddy_2022_2560x.jpg)
Category: People's Choice
Crystalline Acid
Submitted by:Ìý
PhD Student, Chemistry
Location:ÌýChernoff Hall, ³ÉÈË´óƬ
This photo taken with scanning electron microscopy depicts an extremely small yet precise volume (i.e., nanolitre-sized) of crystallized decanoic acid. We are using these spots of crystalline acid to extract and preconcentrate, or soak-up, chemicals of concern like opioids from wastewater samples. This preconcentration step improves our ability to monitor these chemicals. By doing so, we can improve how we detect these harmful compounds and protect local watersheds.