This award was established by the British Phycological Society in recognition of Hilda Canter-Lund, whose stunning photographs will be known to many members. Her photomicrographs of freshwater algae combined high technical and aesthetic qualities whilst still capturing the quintessence of the organisms she was studying.
Congratulations to all that made the shortlist, the competition was strong this year, and the BPS thanks everyone who submitted images and voted for their favorites.
2024 Winners
Macro category – Audrey Sarin: “Cathedral“
Audrey (she/her) is an American marine researcher with a lifelong love of the ocean. She spent the last few years in Central California, including Monterey, California, where this photo was taken. In Monterey, she researched sea urchin life history to inform kelp forest recovery planning as an intern at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and a student at Moss Landing Marine Labs. Audrey is an avid diver and counts kelp forest ecosystems as her favorite to explore and photograph. She is currently a PhD student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution joint program studying the effects of noise on benthic marine invertebrates.
Micro category – Michaela Hittorf: “Welcome to funky town“
Michaela Hittorf is a PhD student at the Institute of Microbiology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. In her PhD project she works with intracellular parasites (i.e., Phytomyxea) of brown algae and plants and mainly focuses on the cell biology of these interactions. She always had a passion for microscopy and in her free time she likes to do photography and to draw, so this was the perfect opportunity to combine two passions: science and art. Long ago she fell in love with the sea and its inhabitants, but she still finds it very funny to work with marine organisms among the Alps in a landlocked country.
2024 Highly Commended
Macro category
Maisie Roy-Musor: “Alaria in the morning“
Maisie is a Seaweed Biologist at Industrial Plankton in British Columbia, Canada, working on seed stock cultivation in seaweed bioreactors for kelp and red algae. A chemist turned phycologist, Maisie has always been fascinated by the diverse traits and strategies seaweeds use to interact with and thrive in their environments, particularly through metabolism and biogeochemistry. In her free time, she can usually be found reading, playing folk guitar, or out exploring nature with friends!
Micro category
John Huisman: “A heavy load: Achnanthes brevipes“
John Huisman is the Curator of the Western Australian Herbarium (Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions) and also undertakes taxonomic research into the Western Australian marine plants. Other than a two year sojourn to the Hawaiian Islands, he has pursued a goal of a State-wide marine Flora since moving to Western Australia in 1985. John has written ten books and over 200 articles and chapters describing various seaweed related topics, including the recent pictorial guide, ‘Marine Plants of Australia (revised and updated)’ in 2023, which depicts over 640 species, mostly photographed in situ.