Vision of Research and Innovation
The annual Vision of Research and Innovation image competition invites all Teagasc staff and students to submit digital images created in the course of their work. The aim is to find the most innovative and compelling images showing the range of research and innovation activities taking place across the organisation.
Winners 2023
The Perfect Apple (Alberto Ramos Luz)
This image was taken in the trial apple orchard in Teagasc, Oak Park, Carlow. It shows one of the 48 apple genotypes that are being assessed to characterise their physiochemical quality. The project will also develop a comprehensive sensory profile of the different apples grown in the Irish climate, as well as understanding the preferences of Irish apple consumers.
Autumn’s Blanket (Dheeraj Rathore)
As leaves senesce in the autumn, they undergo chemical changes. Chlorophyll, the green pigment responsible for photosynthesis, breaks down and reveals other pigments, producing stunning autumn colours. As these leaves decompose, they release essential nutrients like carbon, nitrogen and minerals into the soil. The vibrant autumn colours represent nature’s way of recycling and replenishing the forest soil.
“Stonescapes” - Croí Cloiche, Lámh Agus Talamh (Anne Kinsella)
Comhar na nOileán, the sole Gaeltacht-based, island located Local Development Company (LDC), aims to fortify island communities by addressing challenges like biodiversity safeguarding. The dynamic nature of community make-up brings challenges and opportunities, including integrating new communities.
The photographer represents Teagasc as a Director on the Board of Comhar na nOileán. Taken on Inis Oírr, while attending the Comhar na nOileán AGM, this photograph, like the LDC, is based on supporting communities to use their own assets, building their capacity so that they become stronger, resilient, enterprising, integrated and sustainable.
Beyond Nitrates – There’s Magic in the Mix (Jan Roland Molina & Cristina Botinestean)
This photo symbolises one of the approaches required to eliminate potential health risks associated with nitrites while maintaining the traditional bacon experience. Nitrites, once considered indispensable, are being replaced with a “magic” natural ingredients mix to create a healthier and more natural alternative, offering a more sustainable future for meat products.
Chirping Fieldwork Assistant (Maximilian Schughart)
Everyone involved in fieldwork knows the beautiful chirps of the skylark, which can sing non-stop for hours during breeding season. Skylarks breed in spring crops and feed their chicks with insects and spiders that they find in their surroundings. However, the population is declining due to habitat loss and they were recently added to the amber/red list of threatened animals. Skylarks are shy animals and usually hard to spot, but the one in the photo just sat down on a fence next to a winter barley field at Teagasc Oakpark, watching me doing its job – collecting insects.
Irish Super Oats (André Brodkorb)
The oat plant has been widely cultivated in Ireland for centuries and is valued for its excellent nutritional qualities. Teagasc researchers led by Dr Daniela Freitas and Dr Atikur Rahman have screened over 90 varieties of Irish-grown oats in search of the best nutritional and agronomic properties. This picture captures the maturity time difference due to sowing time of one of those varieties.
Mini Bio-Reactors (Antonio Lourenco)
The DOMINO project aims to establish how fermented food consumption shapes the gut microbiome and provides health benefits to consumers. To do so, the Bioprocess Innovation Suite at Teagasc, Moorepark, is currently being used for optimisation and scale-up of milk kefir production.
Monaghan Drumlins (Tom O’Connell)
The Agricultural Catchments Programme is working in six catchments across Ireland. They were chosen to cover a range of landscape, soil and farming combinations. The Sreenty Corduff site is in county Monaghan and was selected to represent a typical drumlin landscape. The image was taken April 2023.
Rainbow Aphid Wings (Maximilian Schughart)
The Grain Aphid is a major agricultural pest of crops in Ireland. It damages plants by feeding and through the transmission of plant viruses, which can cause high yield losses. As a part of my research project, I identify aphids through a modern microscope with which I took this photo, showing that aphids also have a beautiful and shiny side.
Seasons Change (Rebecca Marsh)
This image shows the four seasons of our oak tree in Teagasc, Mullinavat, Co. Kilkenny. We left a patch for biodiversity under our oak tree and it is alive year-on-year with all kinds of wildflowers and little critters.
It is a space for nature that took little effort but has big impact.
Symbiosis (Emma Fuller)
The picture contains large nitrogen-fixing root nodules formed on Alder tree roots via symbiosis with nitrogen fixing bacteria. Common Alder is a native tree species with high economic and ecological importance in Ireland. This project aims to identify and isolate potential bio-agents to improve disease tolerance against Alder dieback disease.
The Trees Are Listening (Jo Ruane)
This image shows wood ear fungus (Auricularia auriculajudae) which is being used in a video to help illustrate the diverse range of fungi that exist in Irish forests. One of the tasks in the ADAPTForRes project is to collect and isolate fungi we cannot see in leaves of the tree in order to identify fungal pathogens before they potentially become an issue for the host tree.