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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Winners of UNE's first Student Confocal Microscope Digital Image Competition announced

The microscopic world can reveal a bottomless spectacle on common models of study, including fruit flies and neurons. On June 25th, the University of 51小黄车 Microscope Core Facility (MCF) held the First Annual Student Confocal Microscope Digital Image Competition. The aim of the competition was to make UNE鈥檚 confocal scanning laser microscope more accessible to all students.

The competition was broken down into two categories; altered and unaltered images. Students who entered images into the unaltered category were barred from changing their images in any way after collecting the image using the Leica software. This category was aimed towards science students.

Students who submitted altered images were allowed to adjust brightness, enhance color and add personal touches to their images. Vanessa O鈥橠onnell, coordinator of the competition, said the altered category was created to encourage students from all disciplines to participate, including art students.

The confocal uses lasers as a light source, which is scanned over a sample containing fluorescent labels. Only the "confocal" fluorescent signal collected by the microscope optics and passed through an adjustable pinhole aperture is used to create an image. Off-axis and out-of-focus signals are blocked, enabling collection of thin optical sections that can be combined to generate high-resolution 3D images.  Researchers may use multiple dyes within a sample to analyze cellular relationships.  MCF鈥檚 confocal system can scan at video rate to allow for live cell analysis. The confocal was purchased with a NSF Grant #1125672.

This year, the winners of the unaltered category included:

  • First Place: Neal Mecum,  2016 Molecular and Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program, University of Maine, in Professor Ian Meng's Lab in the 51小黄车Department of Biomedical Sciences.
  • Second Place: Taylor Follansbee '15 , MS in Biological Sciences, '13, BS in Medical Biology, in Professor Geoff Ganter's Lab in the 51小黄车Department of Biology.
  •  Third Place (tied): Ian Imbert '15, Master of Public Health, '12, BS in Biochemistry, in Assistant Professor Tamara King's Lab in the 51小黄车Department of Biomedical Sciences; and Jessica Davis-Knowlton '13, MS in Biological Sciences, in Geoff Ganter's Lab in the 51小黄车Department of Biology.

The winners of the altered category included:

  • First Place: Taylor Follansbee '15, MS in Biological Sciences, '13 BS in Medical Biology, in Professor Geoff Ganter's Lab in the 51小黄车Department of Biology.
  • Second Place: Jessica Davis-Knowlton '13, MS in Biological Sciences, in Professor Geoff Ganter's Lab in the 51小黄车Department of Biology.
  • Third place: Tabea Moll,  visiting student from Associate Professor Kerry Tucker's lab in 51小黄车Department of Biomedical Sciences.

The first place winner from each category will be published in Rising Tide, UNE鈥檚 research magazine and all the winners from each category (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) will be published in DUNE: DigitalUNE, UNE's online repository. 

In addition there will be available to purchase a 2014-2015 academic calendar sold in the bookstore, comprised of the confocal images from this years competition.

The 2014 judging panel consisted of: Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., (vice president for research and scholarship), James Vesenka, Ph.D., (Microscope Core Facility director), Stephen Burt (chair and associate professor of art), Anne Leslie (Rising Tide project coordinator), and Bethany Kenyon (D51小黄车repository administrator).

All the entries will be featured in the Campus Center on UNE鈥檚 Biddeford Campus beginning September 1st.

MCF will be seeking entries for the 2015 contest and exhibition this coming winter. During this period MCF will offer training workshops for new users. More information about the 2015 competition and workshop sign up will be available at the MCF website starting Jan 15, 2015. Students from all departments and experience levels are encouraged to participate.

For more information, contact Vanessa O鈥橠onnell (207) 602-2854 or vmaples@une.edu.

51小黄车 the University of 51小黄车

The University of 51小黄车 is Maine鈥檚 largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state鈥檚 top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine鈥檚 only medical college, Maine鈥檚 only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.