University of Stirling photography competition

Student Spotlight - Sammy Berninger

The University Mammal Challenge (UMAC) team Stirling Squirrel Squad from the University of Stirling paired up with the university’s Photography and Videography student society to organise a Mammal Week photography competition. The photographs that we received were gorgeous, featuring some unexpected mammals!

The idea for the photography competition came to me during one of the more difficult transects we have in the Mammal Challenge. While poking and prodding at mammal droppings, and taking pictures of them I stopped in my tracks and thought: What better way to raise awareness than by getting another student society involved? I chatted with Jo, the head of Videography of the Photo and Video society, and was met with lots of enthusiasm both from her and from the rest of her society. Then we were met with the task of coming up with 4 photography categories. How could we fit the range of UK mammals into 4 categories while raising awareness for mammals? Three of the categories were more obvious: small mammals, large mammals, and aquatic mammals. However, to create more of a challenge and to raise awareness for mammals with a decline in numbers, we included a fourth category: “Endangered & Vulnerable”. This category would include any mammals listed as endangered, vulnerable and near threatened on the IUCN Red List in Scotland. Some of the mammals on this list came as a surprise even to us organisers, such as otters or mountain hare!

The small mammal category was our most popular one, with many squirrel and rabbit pictures! The winner Lauren Ure (Instagram @lauren02lulu) captured a grey squirrel in the midst of spring plants.

Figure 1: Small Mammal Category Winner - Grey Squirrel by Lauren Ure.

The large mammal category was more difficult, though our university campus does have regular visits from deer. We hoped that participants would be able to snap pictures both on campus and on their travels all around the UK! The winner Gabi Brame (Instagram @gabrielbrame) captured a beautiful image of a fox.

Figure 2: Fox by Gabi Brame

We knew the aquatic mammal category would provide a challenge, as Stirlingshire is only home of the elusive beavers and otters. However, participants came through with photographs taken all over the UK coastline! The winner Emily Seymour (Instagram @seymourwildlife) captured a seal lounging on the shore.

Figure 3: Aquatic winner by Emily Seymour

We received a surprisingly large number of submissions for the endangered and vulnerable mammals category. We were happy to see lots of red squirrels as well as hedgehogs! It was tough choosing a winner, but Isla Mitchell’s (Instagram @_islajmitchellphotos_) shot of a sleepy red squirrel warmed our hearts!

Figure 4: Sleepy Red Squirrel by Isla Mitchell

Find our more about the University Mammal Challenge here.