The Polar Science Early Career Community Office (PSECCO) is hosting a photo contest in the fall of 2023 to showcase the beauty of the polar regions and to feature early career scientists who work in them.
We invite your photos of fieldwork, research stations and sites, communities and daily life (with permissions), wildlife, and natural and cultural landscapes. However, all ideas are welcome! There will be prizes for the top three photo submissions, and seven honorable mentions will be celebrated (see below). PSECCO plans to use the submitted photos for outreach, engagement, and communications coming from the community office.
Contest rules
To participate, please review the contest rules and submit your photos via this form. Anyone is welcome to enter, including individuals from all career stages. However, we especially encourage early career researchers to submit. Entrants may submit multiple photos but will need to fill out a separate form for each. If you are unable to submit a photo through this form, please contact us at psecco@colorado.edu and we will assist you.
Submissions must be in .gif, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .tif, or .tiff format, must be at least 2000 pixels on its longest side, and be no larger than 10 MB in file size. All photos must be original work.
Image Rights
By participating in the competition, you retain your rights to the photograph but agree that photos submitted can be used by the PSECCO for purposes including, but not limited to, use in the PSECCO website, social media accounts, reports, newsletters, presentations, and other products. Additionally, the photos will be made available to NSF for their communication purposes. Entrants also agree to have their names published in any photo competition-related communications. The photographer’s name will be credited when using the photos for PSECCO and NSF purposes.
Must have written permission of subjects
The photographer is responsible for the copyright and publishing rights for the photographs. Persons who appear as identifiable in the photos must confirm permission to publish the photographs through a model release. If a person under the age of 18 appears in the photo, the parent or guardian must give permission to publish the photograph. Model releases may be submitted on the photo submission form. Please follow this link to download a blank model release form. An email from the photo subject using the permission text from the model release form is also acceptable. As a way of showing respect for the people you are photographing, please obtain permission to take and publish photographs, even if people are not identifiable in them. Organizers reserve the right to reject an image if it is discriminatory, offensive, ethically questionable, or otherwise violates the competition rules.
Deadline for submission is October 31, 2023. Please send any questions to psecco@colorado.edu.
Criteria and judging
Photo submissions will be judged based on the following criteria:
- Composition
- Originality
- Use of color
- Artistry
PSECCO team members, along with several PSECCO advisory board members, will judge the photos and select first, second, and third-place winners, as well as seven honorable mentions. All decisions are final. PSECCO reserves the right to disqualify any entry that is deemed offensive, inappropriate, or in violation of stated contest rules.
Winners will be notified via email by November 30, 2023. Please ensure contact information on the submission form is correct. Contest results will be announced to the public in December 2023.
Competition prizes
First, second, and third place will receive a PSECCO-branded coffee thermos.
- Honorable mentions: Seven honorable mentions will receive shout-outs and PSECCO-branded stickers!