Meet the judges

The competition places equal emphasis on the scientific aspect of a photograph and its aesthetic beauty, and the judges are therefore asked to judge the entries based on this dual criteria. In order to judge both criteria fairly, our international panel is comprised of both scientists and photographers.

Professor Jon Blundy FRS

Jon Blundy is a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford. His primary research interest is magma, from its generation within the Earth to its many manifestations in volcanoes, volcanic eruptions and volcanic landforms. He has ongoing research projects in many of the world's most hazardous volcanic regions, including Mexico, Chile, Kamchatka, Vanuatu, Ethiopia and the Caribbean. Photography is central to his research, as a record of volcanic phenomena, for microscale depictions of volcanic rocks and their constituent minerals, and as illustrations of Earth's raw power. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and Academia Europea.

Professor Duncan Mackay

Duncan Mackay is a Professor in Applied Mathematics and Solar Physics at the University of St Andrews, UK. His primary research interest is in the development and application of data-driven and data-constrained Magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD)  models of the Sun’s global magnetic field. These models are used to simulate and predict the occurrence of Solar Filaments, Active Regions, the Sun’s Open Flux and Coronal Mass Ejections, all of which lead to Space Weather affects at the Earth. He is a keen photographer whose interest is in the landscapes and wildlife of the Scottish Highlands.

Professor Ulrike Muller

Ulrike Muller is a Professor at California State University Fresno. She researches biomechanics of swimming, feeding and flight using high-speed cameras and image processing tools. Her research uses macro photography to record motion at the millimeter scale, such as the wing beats of tiny insects. She is an Associate Editor for Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Hugh Turvey

Hugh Turvey ASIS Hon FRPS is a contemporary x-ray artist based in London, UK, and his internationally acclaimed work exists at the intersection between science and art. Hugh has been the Artist in Residence at The British Institute of Radiology since 2009 and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by The Royal Photographic Society in 2014 for promoting the ‘art of science’. In 2016 Hugh was awarded a Royal Society for Arts Fellowship following successful artistic patient experience healthcare projects and in 2019 he delivered the annual Royal College of Radiologists Crookshank Lecture (Endowed by the late Right Honourable Viscount Crookshank CH). In 2022 he became Chair of the Royal Photographic Society Science Committee. Hugh is a creative consultant looking at how the immersive arts can improve patient experiences in healthcare environments. He is exhibited globally and collaborates with global brands.