2021 Photomicrography Competition
Top 20
Honorable Mentions
Images of Distinction
Judges
Dr. Nsikan Akpan
Health and Science Editor
New York Public Radio
Dr. Nsikan Akpan works for WNYC/Gothamist, where he runs the newsroom’s health and science desk. Nsikan was previously at National Geographic where he worked as a science editor, overseeing its COVID-19 coverage in addition to other topics in science, health and technology. Before National Geographic, he worked for more than four years at PBS NewsHour, where he co-created an award-winning video series named ScienceScope. He shared a 2020 Emmy for the PBS NewsHour series “Stopping a Killer Pandemic” and in 2019 received a George Foster Peabody Award for the PBS NewsHour series “The Plastic Problem.” Nsikan has also worked for NPR, Science News Magazine, Science Magazine, KUSP Central Coast Public Radio, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and as a writer at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University. He holds a doctorate in pathobiology from Columbia University and is an alum of the science communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Hank Green
Author and Internet Content Creator
Hank Green is a science communicator, video creator, entrepreneur, and CEO of Complexly, a production company that creates educational content. His YouTube channels (with shows including Crash Course, SciShow, and Journey to the Microcosmos) have more than 20 million subscribers. He is also a New York Times bestselling author and has interviewed the likes of President Obama and Bill Gates. He excels at explaining complex topics in a relatable way, prompting The Washington Post to name him “one of America’s most popular science teachers.”
Robin Kazmier
Science Editor
PBS NOVA
Robin Kazmier works across NOVA’s broadcast and digital platforms to ensure that the series’ content is scientifically accurate and journalistically sound. She also edits the digital publication NOVA Next. Kazmier worked in Costa Rica as a field guide editor and then a wildlife columnist for The Tico Times before pursuing a master’s in science writing at MIT. She is the author of the photography book National Parks of Costa Rica.
Dr. Alexa Mattheyses
Associate Professor of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology
University of Alabama, Birmingham
Dr. Alexa Mattheyses earned her Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Michigan in the laboratory of Daniel Axelrod where she helped develop new microscopy approaches. She conducted postdoctoral research at the Institut Pasteur and Rockefeller University where she applied fluorescence microscopy to cell biology. Mattheyses then joined the faculty of Emory University where she became Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and co-Director of the Integrated Cellular Imaging microscopy core facility. Mattheyses moved her research program to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she is currently Associate Professor of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology and Director of the High-Resolution Imaging Facility. Her research aims to apply optical microscopy techniques to better understand cellular communication and provide insight into the cellular basis for human health and disease. Dr. Mattheyses is also faculty in the analytical and quantitative light microscopy course (AQLM) at the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole, MA.
Dr. Hesper Rego
Assistant Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis
Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Hesper Rego trained as a physicist in both her undergraduate and graduate studies. She did her graduate work with the late Mats Gustafsson at UCSF and Janelia Farm. In his group, she developed a nonlinear form of Structured-Illumination Microscopy. Afterwards, wanting to explore a biological phenomenon, Dr. Rego did her postdoctoral work with Eric Rubin at the Harvard School of Public Health where she became fascinated by the ability of genetically identical organisms to display different phenotypes. This phenomenon is especially important for the treatment of certain infectious diseases like tuberculosis. Dr. Rego currently leads a research group at the intersection of these two areas, the application of advanced light microscopy techniques to investigate the strategies pathogens use to survive the stresses imposed by antibiotics and the host.
