Students merge art and science in Image of Research competition

The seventh annual Image of Research competition gave Jadyn Scott the opportunity to marry two of her passions: biology and photography.

For the competition, students submit one static image and a brief abstract explaining the relationship between the image and their research project. Scott chose an up-close photograph of two Canadian geese squawking at each other that she took during a research trip to Long Island, New York.

Scott had worked as a photographer in the communications department at her undergraduate institution, but this was the first time she entered a competition focused on research images.

Jadyn Scott standing next to her Image of Research entry at University Galleries

Jadyn Scott won first place in Image of Research’s graduate category for her entry, Why do birds move when they sing?, which was displayed at University Galleries.

“It was really neat looking through all of my photos and thinking about what my research is and connecting those two dots scientifically,” said Scott, a second-year Ph.D. student in the School of Biological Sciences, who had worked .

Scott researches the movements birds make when they communicate and how these gestures influence the sound that is produced and how it’s perceived by others. Her entry—Why do birds move when they sing?—won first place in the graduate category (View all of the winners below).

“I wasn’t expecting (to win), so that’s always exciting,” she said.

Scott’s was one of 28 finalist entries displayed Thursday, February 5, at University Galleries for the Office of Student Research’s exhibit and awards reception. Event sponsors also included Milner Library and the Office of Research.

“If you look at all (the Office of Research’s) verbiage on the web, we’re all about scholarship and creative activity, and you read those, and they seem to be mutually exclusive,” said Dr. Craig Gatto, interim associate vice president for Research. “And this event draws them together, so it’s amazing.”

The finalists were chosen from 60 entries—the most in the competition’s history—and split into graduate and undergraduate categories. Participants represented 14 academic units within the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Applied Science and Technology, and the Mennonite College of Nursing. Students’ work reflected a range of research topics related to clean drinking water, feminism and fashion dolls, Bangladesh’s cultural heritage, homelessness, among many others.

“It’s really exciting to see so many disciplines represented,” said Kendra Paitz, director and chief curator of University Galleries. “There are a lot of scientists this year.”

During the reception, students displayed their images and spoke about their research with members of the public, who could access a description of each work through a QR Code. Dr. Gina Hunter, director of the Office of Student Research, said the Image of Research competition and exhibit serve many functions.

“It gives students the opportunity to convey and think about their research in a new medium, perhaps something they’ve never worked in before. It challenges them to convey often complex and specialized work into something that a lay audience can understand. It also educates our students in a host of ethical and legal issues, including copyright, fair use, and intellectual property. … And finally, one of the main purposes of this exhibit is to really allow students and their faculty mentors a chance to showcase the excellent work, the diverse and innovative research that we have at Illinois State University.”

President Aondover Tarhule speaks with a participant at the Image of Research Exhibit and Reception.

The reception drew 128 attendees, including Illinois State President Aondover Tarhule, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Ani Yazedjian, Associate Vice President for Graduate Education and Internationalization Initiatives Claudia Petrescu, and the participants’ faculty mentors.

“It’s a really fun way for us to see other people coming into the gallery who this might be their first time seeing these images of student research surrounded by so many different artworks,” Paitz said. “We have a solo show of Dianna Frid’s work on view. We have the 50th anniversary of Normal Editions Workshop on view. Having these pop-up exhibitions within our exhibition just adds more layers of context and meaning, and ideally, it invites people to come back and see the shows and participate in the range of free programming that we have.”

Guest jurors Dr. Laurie Bergner, a clinical psychologist and photographer, and Kevin Stewart, a graphic designer and owner of Anvil Media Foundry, judged the entries based on originality, visual impact, and the connection between text and image. Attendees voted on the People’s Choice awards.

Two students present their work at the Image of Research competition

Elizabeth Fishman and Chad Bianchi at the Image of Research competition

Mennonite College of Nursing senior Chad Bianchi won first place and the People’s Choice award in the undergraduate category for the entry The Reality of Relinquishment. He is researching Illinois’ Safe Havens laws with fellow student Elizabeth Fishman under the mentorship of Dr. Denise Hammer.

“Our research focuses on Safe Haven laws in Illinois, so this is an infant being relinquished safely below the age of 30 days,” Bianchi said. “This can be to a police station, fire station, a medic station, or hospital emergency room. We’re trying to increase awareness for the Safe Haven laws, because in McLean County, there’s never been a relinquishment event, but there have been cases of infanticide. So what we’re trying to do is increase awareness so that the mothers know that they have that as an alternative A and that B, we can hopefully increase the rates of relinquishment to prevent that event from happening.”

The image shows Fishman acting as a weeping mother holding a baby in front of a hospital. “We wanted to capture the emotions that a mother would be going through, because in the majority of the cases these are mothers that are relinquishing the infants,” Bianchi said.

The images will be displayed at the Board of Trustees’ February 20 meeting, then on the main floor of Milner Library into April, and finally at the 2026 University Research Symposium on April 10. View all of the finalists online through Milner Library’s ISU ReD digital repository.

Image of Research winners

Graduate category