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Research in Focus is an annual research photography competition that accepts submissions from UWinnipeg students, faculty, staff, retirees, and alumni. This competition is a chance to take viewers into the field, inside the lab, or onto the stage to visualize what researchers have witnessed, discovered, or created as they pursue academic excellence.

Below are the photos submitted to the competition in 2026. The winners can be viewed on the Research in Focus main webpage.

Photo captures an advanced cleaning process
Shining the Light on Food Safety By: Guwanth Wanigasuriya, MSc student Supervised by Dr. Paliwal

 Faces of Discovery

From the back of a rock shelter, an excavation site can be seen with team members setting up and the bright sun streaming rays onto the site
A researcher in orange standing on a rock wall in a mine collecting samples of a white mineral deposit flowing from the outcrop.

Artistry in Research

A researcher in a white lab coat working at a laboratory station, using tools to handle soil samples on a precision balance.
Under Aurora's Watch: A Night with Bats
Anouska Agarwal
Graduate Student
Light green cordage loosely draped over the side of a dressing mirror.
Twine Takes Time
Katie Buckberger
Undergraduate Student
Photo contains a picture of a poster with three fun cartoon characters. The poster has details for attending a school family fun night.
TOYBOX Graphics
Sheri-Lynn Skwarchuk
Faculty
Bird's eye view of The Quad covered in snow. An abstract silhouette shaped like a leaf prominently visible. Black and white.
The Quad
Joffrey Abainza
Staff
A photo being taken as a photographer snaps models on runways at Fashion Week Toronto 2024
The Photographer’s Canvas
Osamagbe Osa-Ogunbor
Undergraduate Student
The image shows a dimly lit workspace with multiple screens displaying a city map, data logs, and an audio recording, tactical radio.
The Helper's Clarity
Shubham Sharma
Undergraduate Student
This picture has Sun, colored sky, birds, grass, reflection of these and surrounding buildings in water to inform eco-justice & relational connections.
Relational Connectedness
Latika Raisinghani
Faculty
A 3D human head outline with slices in the axial, sagittal, and coronal directions. Eyeballs and brain are present in the image as 3D objects.
Human Head Exploration in 3D
Jessica de Kort
Undergraduate Student
Stormy looking painting of Lake Athabasca, looking from atop a hill. The dark of the trees and foliage is very dark, almost black, the colour of oil.
Extracted, at Goldfields
Kevin Walby
Faculty
This photo features a collection of writing examples that are taken around the university.
Empathy not Apathy
Helen Friesen
Faculty
University classroom with students attending a lecture on relational databases. The professor presents a slide while students take notes on laptops.
Campus Research Class
Tanvir Mahim Ornob
Graduate Student

Community Catalysts

A photo of a promotional video highlighting soil phosphorus loss, water quality analysis for University of Winnipeg website.
TOYBOX collaboration with Churchill School
Sheri-Lynn Skwarchuk
Faculty
A photo of a promotional video highlighting soil phosphorus loss, water quality analysis for University of Winnipeg website.
Research to Give Back
Lam An
Faculty
Photo of a small bamboo basket with dried fish in it.
Dried Fish For Life!
Mohammad Anas Shoebullah Khan
Alumni
V
A father’s hand, a daughter’s path
Osamagbe Osa-Ogunbor
Undergraduate Student
A Canada goose swims on a calm body of water, with gentle ripples surrounding it.
Migration In Motion: Geese At Fort Whyte Alive
Allyza Tabirara
Undergraduate Student

Framing Fieldwork

Photo of a small bamboo basket with dried fish in it.
Work in Yellow Turns Chemistry Green!
Mohammad Sheheryar Mouzam
Undergraduate Student
Researchers in a boat next to a yellow net in the water. The red and green northern lights are in the sky.
Under the Northern Lights
Alezandra Schoen
Staff
Researchers in a boat next to a yellow net in the water. The red and green northern lights are in the sky.
TOYBOX Training
Sheri-Lynn Shwarchuk
Faculty
Black and white photo of the Library's 5th floor. Rows of book shelves on the right and left sides. The centre is an open path.
They Walked These Halls
Joffrey Abainza
Staff
A picture of a person holding a little brown bat over a table with research equipment during fieldwork.
The Field Setup: Bat Biology in Action
Anouska Agarwal
Graduate Student
A picture of a person holding a little brown bat over a table with research equipment during fieldwork.
Survival of the Thesaurus
Helen Friesen
Faculty
A person is collecting soil samples using a PVC tube by tapping the placed top wooded plate on the PVC tube using a hammer.
Soil Sample Collection
Aishika Dissanayake
Graduate Student
A researcher focuses on his writing in a forest dome during a research retreat.
Sit Back, Relax, and Write
Lam An
Faculty
This is a picture of a classroom bulletin board that shows models of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and images of women scientists and Pride flag. 
Science For All!
Latika Raisinghani
Faculty
A coloured photo of a large ship with light contrast making in appear shadowed In the background a beautiful sunrise with mist hovering over the water
A Fishermans Morning
Riley Versluis
Graduate Student
The picture shows the bubbles of air that formed on the detector each make a lens that views several of the photosensor modules inside the detector.
Air lenses underwater
Blair Jamieson
Faculty
Two people carrying a big bamboo basket together with boats in the background
Beyond the Boat: All Hands Off Deck
Mohammad Anas Shoebullah Khan
Alumni
A green field in the spring. Few trees are there as wind barriers. The trees aren't having any leaves yet. The sky is cloudy and is at sun set.
Even the brightest meadows have shadows
Indeera Hetti Arachchige
Graduate Student
A colour photo of a faded piece of driftwood with six red hand prints on it. The driftwood lays on sandy soil with small green leafy plants around it.
Handprints on driftwood, community memorial to Tina Fontaine
Steven Kohm
Faculty
Three small red strawberries dangle from a stem against a green foliage background
Heartberry
Katie Buckberger
Undergraduate Student
A researcher carrying an auger and a bottle of water, walking into the boreal forest at IISD Experimental Lakes Area, Ontario, to collect soil samples
Into the Woods
Ruchini Sovis
Graduate Student
Photograph of a bright blue sky, bright blue lake, taken from a desolate brown hilltop, some trees on the opposite shoreline. It is a sunny day.
Radioactive Cesium Beaverlodge Lake
Ken Walby
Faculty
A beach with blue skies and a large female sea turtle heading back to the sea. Her beautiful carapace (shell) has speckles of greens and browns.
Turtley Awesome Sighting
Taylor Cangemi
Undergraduate Student

Powered Perception

Wolf-Sheep Predation model showing 250 sheep, 57 wolves, with average sheep energy 12.81 and wolf energy 21.56, simulating predator-prey dynamics.
Wolf Sheep Predation
Tanvir Mahim Ornob
Graduate Student
The microscopic image displays a stained section of a joint consisting of connective tissues and bone, which have taken on red, blue, and purple tones.
Valley Of The Joint
Emily Fedora
Alumni
A close up view of tightly twisted two ply twine in various shades of green. The image is so zoomed in that one can see individuals fibres.
Twine Up Close
Katie Buckberger
Undergraduate Student
Microscopic image of Rhizopus stolonifera fungi (black bread mold).
The Mold’s Secret
Ruchini Sovis
Graduate Student
The image shows a dimly lit workspace viewed through binoculars. Multiple screens display a city map, data logs, and audio recordings next to a radio.
The Helper's Blur
Shubham Sharma
Undergraduate Student
Snow prints on a window.
Snow Whispers
Helen Friesen
Faculty
A parabolic dip is shown on a screen on an electronic device. Many others like it along with wires fill the background.
Smiling Antiprotons
Thomas Hepworth
Undergraduate Student
High resolution scan of the roots, stems, and leaves of prairie grasses. Measurements of roots are used to understand how plants respond to drought.
Prairie Roots
Rafael Otfinowski
Faculty
Three walleye fish larvae under a microscope. The top two are crossed in different directions.
Micro Walleye
Alexandra Dissanayake
Graduate Student
A grayscale SEM-EDX image showing phosphorus distribution in soil particles image showing phosphorus distribution in soil particle.
Microscopic Insights into Soil Phosphorus
Aishika Dissanayake
Graduate Student
A stained microscopic photo of male moss gametophyte which looks like a beautiful flower.
Longitudinal section of male moss gametophyte
Diva Bhargav
Undergraduate Student
Microscopic view of a Young sporophyte of Fern prothallium
Fern Prothallium
Tejinder Sidhu
Undergraduate Student
A microscope view of human liver cells exposed to a harmful chemical contaminant. The cells appear irregular in shape
A Toxic Glimpse: The Fate of Liver Cells Under Chemical Stress
Chathuri Mudalige
Graduate Student

Voting has now closed. Results will be announced during the 3MT finals at 5:00 p.m. on March 13.