Whales, volcanoes, skies, and more: Photo contest illustrates life's complexity

Submissions to the increasingly popular Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability photo contest convey what is at stake in our struggle toward sustainability – along with human efforts to enact change.

This year, the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability received a record 495 submissions to its photo contest, an annual opportunity for Stanford community members to share their perspectives and artistry. The images flowed in from undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, staff, and alumni, who portrayed people and the planet through the lenses of their cameras and phones.

“The quality of the imagery was just superb, and the judges had our work cut out for us in selecting a handful of winning images from the many wonderful submissions,” said judge Wendy Mao, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences and an expert in photon science.

Mao was part of a team of six judges, including Anne Guyon, senior associate director, development communications; Parul Gupta, managing director for mobilization; Chris Tomlinson, operations manager, oceans; Abby Cummings, master’s student, computer science; and Ethan Lopes, PhD student, geophysics.

“What struck me was the incredible talent among Stanford’s sustainability community photographers, who clearly care deeply about our planet. They captured the magnificence, power, importance, and vulnerability of Earth’s ecosystems with remarkable skill,” Mao added. “Kudos to everyone who submitted entries – it was truly an honor to serve as a judge for this year’s contest.”

Photos were assessed for their creativity, originality, responsiveness to the prompt, overall impact, and artistic merits, including color, composition, and lighting. Technical excellence was considered but not required.

Each image was judged in one of four categories:

Action and Impact in the Field: Research, fieldwork, and collaboration in off-campus locations
Action and Impact on Campus: Change-makers, researchers, and students on campus collaborating to make a difference in the world
Beauty in Nature: Celebration of the vast, majestic, and ever-changing natural world
Challenges We Face: Environmental and societal challenges that inspire the community to act

First, second, and third prizes were awarded for each category, in addition to honorable mentions. In all, the judges recognized 16 photos across the four categories.

In the Challenges We Face, Erika Tande Hill, a senior in Earth and planetary sciences, took first prize with an image of Stanford@SEA students using photogrammetry to model a rare reef formation that was impacted by a bleaching event.

Earth system science PhD student Philippe Roberge topped the Beauty in Nature category with a photo displaying the magnificence of lava spewing from Volcan Fuego near Antigua, Guatemala.

Postdoctoral scholar Peter Marinos of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) won first prize in Action and Impact on Campus with his photo titled “Star Trails at the Stanford Student Observatory.” It captures the magic and complexity of stars revolving around the celestial pole while flights arrive at and depart from San Francisco International Airport.

First place in Action and Impact in the Field was awarded to Jacob Long, a PhD student in Earth and planetary sciences, who portrayed students camping on the California coast beneath a breathtaking swath of stars as part of EPS 5: Living on the Edge.

All finalists receive an award certificate and will have their work featured in Doerr School of Sustainability social media channels. Winning photos will also be featured in the Spring Arts Fair at Roble Gym on April 25 and displayed at Stanford Redwood City. First place photographers received an annual pass to the U.S. National Parks.

The following are all 16 winners by category:

Action and Impact in the Field

First place

Jacob Long
PhD student, Earth and Planetary Sciences

Deep blue sky full of stars above trees and a tent illuminated from the inside — EPS 5 students camp under the Milky Way during a field trip to the California Coast. Photographer: Jacob Long

Second place

Max Kessler
PhD student, Mechanical Engineering

Looking up, a person aims a green laser pointing diagonally into the night sky. Background of stars and tree silhouettes — Philippe Roberge, PhD ’26, uses a laser for polar alignment to image the Whirlpool Galaxy in Pinnacles National Park, California. Photographer: Max Kessler

Third place

Cara Askren
Class of 2026, Earth Systems

Overhead view. Two people handle a large research instrument on a colorful ship. Blue choppy waves splash over the edge — Marine technicians aboard the Nathaniel B Palmer deploying a CTD for phytoplankton research above the Australian-Antarctic ridge. Photographer: Cara Askren

Honorable mention

Hannah McGoran
Class of 2025, Environmental Systems Engineering, master’s student, Mechanical Engineering

Vibrant purple flower with large green leaves. A bee with bright blue stripes hovers nearby — A native blue-banded bee pollinates a Melastoma plant on the island of Minjerribah, Australia. This plant-pollinator interaction was observed while surveying the visitation patterns of native Australian bees. There are over 1,700 native bee species across the continent. Photographer: Hannah McGoran