2024 Photomicrography Competition

Adrian Coakley began his journey with National Geographic in 2007 as a photo editor, assuming numerous pivotal roles across the organization. Initially contributing to the National Geographic Books division, his projects explored themes of outer space, human origins, photography, and many others. He later transitioned to National Geographic Magazine, where he worked in print and digital platforms, focusing on exploration and adventure. In 2019, he returned to his roots and rejoined National Geographic Books as the director of photography, where his approach continues to shape the visual storytelling landscape. Coakley has long been fascinated with the intersection of art and science in visual communication. In 2023, he collaborated with renowned Science Photographer Anand Varma on a photographically curated coffee table book titled, “Invisible Wonders.”

Dr. Michelle Itano is a cellular biophysicist who received her doctorate from the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, did her postdoctoral work at The Rockefeller University, and is now an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at UNC-Chapel Hill. In 2019, she was selected to be a Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Imaging Scientist in recognition of her investment in facilitating collaborations between researchers, software and infrastructure engineers, and computing specialists to design and disseminate efficient bioimaging pipelines. She has served as the Editor-in-Chief for BioTechniques since 2021 and participates as an instructor in many microscopy courses at UNC-Chapel Hill and beyond, including Advanced Courses at the MBL, Imaging Africa, Okinawa Microscopy Workshop, and the PAIR-UP Live Cell Imaging Workshop.

Emily Petersen is the photography managing editor at Science magazine in Washington, D.C. For the weekly publication and news site, she directs both freelance photographers and researchers to visualize complex science stories for the magazine’s covers, features, news, commentary, and social media accounts. In addition to her award-winning photo editing, she writes for the Science Visuals blog and is an iLCP ambassador. She received her master’s degree from American University, where she studied photography, film, and environmental science. Before that, she was a microbiologist for the U.S. Navy. While earning her bachelor’s degree in biology at Virginia Tech, she was also a histology and microscopy technician.

Clare Waterman graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a B.A. in biochemistry in 1989. From there, she received an M.S. in exercise science in 1991 from the University of Massachusetts, and her Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. She then spent nine years as a professor in the Department of Cell Biology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Dr. Waterman has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and the Arthur S. Flemming Award for Public Service in Basic Science. Dr. Waterman has made fundamental advances in the understanding of cell migration and has authored or co-authored more than 150 papers. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Current Biology and Journal of Microscopy. Dr. Waterman is a member of the American Society for Cell Biology, Royal Microscopical Society, Biophysical Society, and is a Council Member of Gordon Research Conferences Organization.

Dr. Jennifer Waters is the director of the Core for Imaging Technology & Education at Harvard Medical School and a Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Imaging Scientist. Dr. Waters received her Ph.D. in biology at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1998, under the guidance of Dr. Ted Salmon. After teaching a graduate microscopy course at Wake Forest University for several years, she began her current position in 2001. She teaches microscopy courses and workshops at Harvard, organizes the annual two-week course “Quantitative Imaging: From Acquisition to Analysis at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,” and is the creator of YouTube.com/Microcourses, Microlist.org, Forum.microlist.org, and the Advanced Microscopy Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Samantha Yammine is a neuroscientist turned popular science communicator better known as Science Sam. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto studying how stem cells build and maintain the brain, and then went on to found Science Sam Media, a science-based digital production agency. She is passionate about empowering people to explore science by making it more familiar, accessible, and inclusive. Through TV screens, social media, and keynote stages worldwide, Dr. Yammine has built an engaged community of people who love her unique style of science storytelling. You can find Dr. Yammine on social media as @science.sam, as a regular science expert on CTV’s The Good Stuff with Mary Berg, and as a guest science correspondent for a variety of shows on Netflix, TVO Kids, CBC GEM, Discovery UK, and more. She sits on the Board for RCIScience and the anti-misinformation campaign ScienceUpFirst and was named one of Toronto Life’s Top 50 Most Influential People in JUDGING CONSULTANT Toronto in 2021.