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We are happy to announce the winners of our 2021 photo competition! Congratulations to all our winners and thank you to the photo contest selection committee for judging the competition!

Panorama Category

Up Close and Personal: Pollen-covered bee on an echinacea plant, Oakwood, Ohio. As part of her Plants & People course, ºÚÁÏÉçÇø AIP graduate ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Heidi Edwards, who participates in experiential learning through Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, planted flowers in her backyard and kept a photo log of pollinator interactions. Next, she plans to use her new knowledge to plant a pollinator courtyard at the school where she teaches.

Conservation & Education: Mountain goat above the clouds atop Mt. Evans, Idaho Springs, Colo. ºÚÁÏÉçÇø AIP graduate ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Jessica Meurer Sobhani, who participates in experiential learning through Denver Zoo, was assigned a project to take photos to tell the story of water. Ecologists were studying the goats and human/animal interaction to see if human behavior was contributing to the presence of the goats on the mountain.

Community: Prairie spiderworts, Litzsinger Road Ecology Center, St. Louis, Mo. Ecologists recognize the wildflower spiderwort as beneficial to the Missouri prairie because it attracts lots of native bees. ºÚÁÏÉçÇø AIP graduate ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Betsy Leeker, who participates in experiential learning through Missouri Botanical Garden, took this photo as one of her first master’s assignments.

Panorama: Bison graze on a hill in Daniels Park, Colo., overlooking the Rocky Mountains. ºÚÁÏÉçÇø AIP graduate ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Hannah Stater, who participates in experiential learning through Denver Zoo, was observing the herd as part of the experiential learning in her Foundations of Inquiry course.

Up Close and Personal: Looking at the rainforest canopy through the spiny bark of the Sacred Spiked Ceiba Tree, Belize. ºÚÁÏÉçÇø GFP graduate ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Jenna Budke of Koloa, Hawaii, took this photo while studying environmental stewardship in Belize, saying, “Nature is cool!”

Conservation & Education: Informational sign at Playa Grande, Costa Rica. Translated from Spanish, the sign says that plastics have a detrimental impact on all marine life. ºÚÁÏÉçÇø GFP graduate ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Christina Lavallee, of Decatur, Ga., took this photo while she was in Costa Rica studying ecology and ecotourism. “Let’s keep the beaches clean!” says the leatherback sea turtle.

Community: Sunrise in the Vizcaino Desert, Baja, Mexico. El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a desert ecosystem with 463 plant species supporting an array of wildlife communities. ºÚÁÏÉçÇø GFP graduate ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Jawnie Payne of Antioch, Tenn., and her fellow ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs stopped to watch the sunrise as they traveled through Baja, California, to study desert and marine ecosystems. Thanks to everyone who submitted photos for our 2021 photo contest, and congrats all of our

Panorama: From the top of Turtle Mountain, Iwokrama Forest Preserve, Guyana. ºÚÁÏÉçÇø GFP graduate ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Melissa Neufer of Santa Rosa, Calif., traveled to Guyana to study local wisdom and conservation, taking this photo after an “epic hike” to see the “endless rain forest.”

“Reach for your dreams!” ºÚÁÏÉçÇø AIP ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Jennifer Udema, of Aurora, Colo., took an internship course with experiential learning through Denver Zoo. Udema traveled to the Peruvian Amazon where she snapped a photo of this frog (Dendropsophus parviceps).