Temitope Ogunwumi ’18 shot “Train Tracks” for a URI photography class.

“My work explores themes of lines and symmetry in urban architecture,” he said. “My friends and I usually spend our free time traveling and exploring large cities, using photography as an outlet to document our adventures. One night we decided to explore Chicago’s many train stations, and I was intrigued by the way the tunnels and tracks intersected one another.”

Ogunwumi faced stiff competition in the inaugural Research and Scholarship Photo Contest, which drew close to 300 entries from URI students, faculty, researchers and staff. Oceanography master’s student Megan Lubetkin ’19 took second place with “Deepstaria Medusa,” a photograph of the jellyfish species Deepstaria enigmatica. And College of the Environment and Life Sciences marine affairs doctoral student Jessica Vandenberg ’20 placed third for “Afternoon Tea,” a photograph of an Indonesian jungle guide making tea for clients in Malino Highlands, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

There were three honorable mentions:

• “The Bay is Supposed to be Frozen By Now,” a photo of a polar bear and her two cubs on the shores of the Hudson Bay in the Arctic Ocean, shot by CELS Natural Resources Science Professor Yeqiao Wang.
• “Ghost,” a photo of juniper berries taken at the Canyon Del Muerto on the Navajo Nation Reservation in Arizona by master’s candidate Charlie Scott (Diné).
• “Security Guard,” a photo of a Boston, MA-based security guard taken by undergraduate student Noah Rivard ’21. 

Contest entries included fine art, photography, electron microscopy, and computerized-imaging outputs, and showcased a range of scholarship—from polar exploration and underwater archeology to cellular-level research and composite-mapping techniques. URI’s three magazines: QuadAngles, Momentum and 41°N sponsored the contest.