2011 Photomicrography Competition

As MSNBC.com‘s science editor, Alan Boyle runs a virtual curiosity shop of the physical sciences and space exploration, plus paleontology, archaeology and other ologies that strike his fancy. Since joining MSNBC.com in 1996, Boyle has won awards from the National Academies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Association of Science Writers, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Space Frontier Foundation, the Pirelli Relativity Challenge and the CMU Cybersecurity Journalism Awards program.

He is the author of “The Case for Pluto,” a contributor to “A Field Guide for Science Writers,” the blogger behind Cosmic Log — and an occasional talking head on the MSNBC cable channel. During his 34 years of daily journalism in Cincinnati, Spokane and Seattle, he’s survived a hurricane, a volcanic eruption, a total solar eclipse and an earthquake. He has faith he’ll survive the Internet as well.

Dan Vergano covers science and society at USA TODAY, where he has worked since 1999. Previous reporting stints include Medical Tribune, HealthWeek (PBS) and Science News, as well as freelance reporting for Science, New Scientist, Men’s Health, The Washington Post and others.  He was a 2008 Nieman Fellow for Journalism at Harvard, and most recently was the winner of the 2011 Gene Stuart science-writing award from the Society for American Archeology. Prior to reporting, Dan worked as a policy analyst and engineer for a federally-funded research and development center.

Dr. Watkins is a Professor and Vice Chairman for Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine. He is also the Founder and Director of the Center for Biologic Imaging.  His current research focus is understanding the mechanisms of communication between cells of the immune system using molecular and optical imaging tools. To date, he has produced approximately 500 peer reviewed papers.

Dr. Watkins is actively involved in medical student and graduate student education, directing the graduate program in Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology for 10 years and serving on multiple current graduate student committees.  He is also actively involved in medical education and was awarded an excellence in teaching award in 2005.  Dr. Watkins is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, was appointed as the Raine Professor at the University of Western Australia in Perth in 1999 and 2008 and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Umea in Sweden for his contributions to the field of microscopic imaging.