Research in Focus 2023-24 Winners

Grand Prize Winner

A person in a gowned suit with hood, mask, glasses and blue gloves holds a small bat.

Title: Batwoman by Night...
By: Taylor Cangemi, Undergraduate Student in Biology
Description of photo: Student athlete by day, batwoman by night. This photo showcases Taylor Cangemi holding a locally endangered bat species, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). Taylor has spent her past two summers working as a field research technician for Dr. Craig Willis' Bat Lab. The lab is based out of UWinnipeg, but field work is conducted across Manitoba and Ontario. She and her field crew captured this individual during the summer 2023 field season using a triple high mist net. The morphometric measurements of the bat were collected followed by the injection of a unique microchip (PIT tag) prior to being released. Mark-recapture is vital to the long-term monitoring of bat populations and conservation research involving not only bats, but all wildlife.

Artistry in Research - Winner

Dark cathedral with purple, red and blue lights shining n the walls and ceiling, outline of a person looking up and smiling

Title: Projecting the Present into the Past
By: Claire LaBrecque, Faculty in History
Description: While in Angers, France, to work in the Departmental Archives in Oct. 2023, I stopped by at the Collegiate Church of St. Martin to see its early Gothic choir once more. As soon as I entered the choir, I was mesmerized by the multimedia creation of street artist Ladybug which gave life to the old stones. The fusion created between the architectural setting, the light projections, the sounds amplified by the shape of the rib vaults, and the rusted steel silhouette was captivating. It truly changed my perception of what I usually see as static architectural forms.

Artistry in Research - Runner-Up

Students in theatre seats looking towards stage

Title: Rapt Attention
By: Donna Fletcher, Faculty in Theatre and Film
Description: Students listen with rapt attention to their colleagues during the Dress rehearsal for the Musical Theatre Class Cabaret Dress rehearsal.

Artistry in Research - Runner-Up

A laptop at a desk, surrounded by three open books and a cup.

Title: What it takes to be a philologist
By: Flavia Vasconcellos Amaral, Faculty in Classics
Description: This is a picture of my work station on a regular day working on Greek epigrams as a philologist. It takes a lot of texts, dictionaries, commentaries, and secondary sources to work on ancient literature (and coffee!) to endure the long hours dedicated to understanding, interpreting, and making connections between the ancient texts and modern readers. The picture shows the main text on the screen, its commentaries on the side and three different kinds of dictionaries. I would have needed a bit more space if my secondary resources were printed, but they end up taking tabs space on my screen.

Community Catalysts - Winner

Two circular image with a view of the library

Title: A Better Printing Experience
By: Joffrey Abainza, Library Staff
Description: Last year, a behavioural mapping project led by Joshua Herter and Sydney Nicholauson assessed printing in the library. The foot traffic of over 1400 individuals performing print jobs was analyzed to optimize the user experience and make recommendations for the future. This shot was taken with a 360-degree camera showing the physical results. Printers that were previously scattered across the library were moved to a central location, and one printer that was deemed unnecessary was removed. The printers now all share the same functionalities, and there is now more room for people to move and less confusion about how to use them. The library has also come away with a better understanding of how students use the space and what work still needs to be done to improve it.

Community Catalysts - Runner-Up

Orange ribbons on a wrought iron gate. Green grass and tall stone building in the background.

Title: Stains
By: Helen Friesen, Faculty in Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications
Description:
Ribbons acknowledge
unmarked graves, lasting impact
of dark history.

Faces of Discovery - Winner

Person in a red shirt and dark pants standing in a large metal box inside a large room. The box has metal pipes coming out of the sides and top.

Title: Big Physics Experiments
By: Thomas Hepworth, Undergraduate Student in Physics
Description: This is a picture of Thomas Hepworth inside a Magnetically Shielded Room at TRIUMF, Canada's particle accelerator center in Vancouver, B.C. Inside of this room we will make measurements of neutrons to try and gain insight into why the universe is almost only made of matter, instead of being equal parts matter and anti-matter.

Faces of Discovery - Runner-Up

Taken from above, this image shows six people staring up at the camera and waving. Two cars with open trunks sit behind the people, who are standing on a rocky paved road with fog behind them.

Title: Even the Weather Can’t Keep a Good Drone Down
By: Christopher Storie, Faculty in Geography
Description: We arrived at the study site near Norway's highest peak (Galdhopiggen) where we were surveying the treeline using optical and multispectral drones. Unfortunately the cloud cover and sunlight conditions were not optimal for flying and imaging. While waiting for the clouds to lift we captured this photo of the team all ready for a morning of field work.

Faces of Discovery - Runner-Up

A woman sitting on the ground in a market behind a table full of fish.

Title: Navigating Patriarchy and Profits
By: Mohammad Anas Shoebullah Khan, Master in Environmental & Social Change Graduate Student
Description: This photograph depicts a female fish vendor from the Mitana Machhi fishing community selling dried fish at the Khattalwada weekly rural market in Valsad, Gujarat, India. In the rural and tribal regions of southern Gujarat, women from fishing communities play a crucial role as primary sellers of dried fish. Their customers often consist of economically disadvantaged groups in tribal and forest areas, for whom dried fish serves as a more affordable source of nutrition. These women navigate traditional gender roles at home while confronting social, cultural, and patriarchal barriers to establish their presence in the markets. Through my research, which focuses on human rights within the dried fish economy in southern Gujarat, I emphasize the importance of centering discussions on human rights around the lived experiences of women dried fish vendors, rather than solely relying on legal frameworks and government policies.

Framing Fieldwork - Winner

This image shows four people walking with research equipment on a hillside overlooking a mountain range. The sky is bright blue above the mountains.

Title: The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Surveying
By: Christopher Storie, Faculty in Geography
Description: Part of our research team ventured onto the hillside using high precision GNSS survey equipment in an attempt to measure fractional vegetation cover that we could then compare to satellite imagery of the same area. We started at 1250m and worked downhill to approximately 1000m. Beautiful day at the office!

Framing Fieldwork - Runner Up

Five women standing at a tall rack which holds many rows of fish.

Title: Sun and Struggle: The Lives of Women Fishworkers
By: Mohammad Anas Shoebullah Khan, Master in Environmental & Social Change (MESC) Graduate Student
Description: The image depicts women from the Mitana Machhi community at Nargol beach in Gujarat - India, drying fish on wooden racks called ‘kaanthi’. Women workers, who are predominantly from the socially marginalized Mitana Machhi community, form a majority of fishworkers in south Gujarat’s dried fish economy. Their daily routine involves 10-12 hours of laborious work under the harsh sun, including sorting, cleaning, and drying fish. Unfortunately, many of these work areas lack basic amenities like clean water and sanitation facilities. Balancing their roles as fishworkers and traditional caregivers, women fishworkers often suffer from exhaustion and lack of rest, leading to other health issues. This narrative ties into my research on human rights in the dried fish economy of south Gujarat, emphasizing the challenges fishworkers face in this sector and the need for greater attention to their rights and well-being.

Powered Perception - Winner

Blue circle with many cells inside forming different patterns. Background is black.

Title: Stem Cross Section of Club Moss
By: Rafael Otfinowski, Faculty in Biology
Description: Anatomy inside a stem of club moss, an important plant in Manitoba's forests. The fluorescence of cells inside the stem was produced with ultra-violet light and has been coloured blue to improve contrast.

Powered Perception - Runner-Up

Colitis under a microscope. Blue and pink areas, pink branches, white main branch in the centre.

Title: Stinking Beauty
By: Drake Hechter, Graduate Student in Biology
Description: Despite its malodorous reputation, colitis reveals a unique beauty under the microscope. Utilizing Hematoxylin and Eosin with Alcian Blue staining helps us measure disease severity and unravel the complexities of colitis in a mouse model. "Stinking Beauty" embodies the paradoxical nature of research — where amidst the chaos of disease, beauty and insight emerge, inspiring further investigation and discovery!

Best Description - Winner

Viewer’s Choice - Winner

Viewer’s Choice - Runner-Up

Two silhouettes of people taking photos of seals in an aquarium tank.

Title: Picking the Perfect Subject
By: Alex De Simone, Undergraduate Student in Biology
Description: The ecology and evolution of mammals lab is mainly based at the Assiniboine park zoo. On our first visit we were fortunate enough to get a guided tour of the exhibits to familiarize ourselves with the animals and determine which animal we wanted to observe for our experiments. While my group did not end up observing the seals they were definitely a popular stop along our tour due to their activity.