The Office of Student Research announced the winners of the 2021 Image of Research competition.
Students were asked to choose compelling images to capture the viewers’ attention. The images could take any form, including photographs, drawings, or digital creations, and could convey the research concretely or abstractly. A committee of jurors selected the winners, and the public voted on the People’s Choice winners.
Triston Brown’s image “Dance and Know You Are a Part” tied for a first-place spot in the Images of Research Project. 
Sargylana Cherepanova’s image “Sun, Time and Vivid Dreams” tied for a first-place spot in the Images of Research Project. The image focuses on incorporating Cherepanova’s indigenous Yakut upbringings into the virtual space of videogames. 
Isolde Mckiernan’s image “Scuttle Sensilla” won a first-place spot in the Images of Research contest. The image shows the antennal lobe of Megaselia scalaris, the scuttle fly, using fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM). 
Molly Frank’s image “Relaxing the Reds” won a people’s Choice award at the Images of Research competition. 
Raeann Huffman’s image “Agriscience, Agronomic Intercropping Systems in Corn and Soybeans” won a People’s Choice Award at the Image of Research competition.
The winners are:
Graduate Category
First place (tie)
“Dance and Know You Are a Part” – photograph
Triston Brown, studying cultural anthropology
Faculty advisor: Dr. Kathryn Sampeck
“Sun, Time and Vivid Dreams” – digital imagery using Blender and Unity
Sargylana Cherepanova, studying painting
Faculty advisor: Tyler Lotz
Second place
“Mask for Mask? Queer Hook-up Culture during the COVID-19 Pandemic” – photograph/collage
Rocky Roque, studying communication
Faculty advisor: Dr. Stephen Hunt
Honorable Mention
“Equity, not just equality” – photograph
Lindsay Chassay, studying psychology
Faculty advisor: Dr. Dan Lannin
Honorable Mention
“Dancing in Quarantine” – photograph
Shahrzad Hamzeh, studying theater
Faculty Advisor: Jason Reblando
Honorable Mention
“Carcinization” – photography/collage
Maggie Demaegd, studying biology
Faculty advisor: Dr. Wolfgang Stein
Peoples’ Choice Award
“Agronomic Intercropping Systems in Corn and Soybeans” – photography/collage
Raeann Huffman, studying agriscience
Faculty advisor: Dr. Nicholas Heller
Undergraduate Category
First place
“Scuttle Sensilla” – microscopy
Isolde Mckiernan, studying molecular and cellular biology
Faculty advisor: Dr. Kevin Edwards
Second place
“To be ‘S’, or not to be ‘S’? — That is the Question.” – data visualization
Erin Collins, studying molecular and cellular biology
Faculty advisor: Dr. Shawn Hitchcock
Honorable Mention
“Dripping Down the Drain” – photograph
Rebekah Bollin, studying geography
Faculty advisor: Dr. Melissa Heil
“Maternal Influence on Construction Ability” – video capture
Bailey Schejbal, studying psychology
Faculty advisor: Dr. Julie Campbell
People’s Choice
“Relaxing the Reds” – photograph
Molly Frank, studying conservation biology
Faculty advisor: Dr. Raz Steward
The competition is sponsored by Illinois State’s Office of Student Research, Graduate School, Milner Library, and University Galleries.
Winners’ images and research abstracts can be found on the Office of Student Research website.
