Pollinator Photo Contest
The Environmental Interpretive Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn has selected this years winners. We had 163 photos submitted in all! This year's contest had the most geographically diverse contestants in the US (from 15 different states, including California, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, Alabama, NC, SC, Wisconsin, NY, NJ, Minnesota, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and, of course, Michigan) compared to past contests. We also had a submission from Ontario, Canada! Thank you to all our participants in this years photo contest, and congratulations to the winners!
2023 Photo Contest Winners:
Pollinators Up-Close - Western honey bee by Evan Deutsch
Pollinator-Flower Interactions - Insatiable by Curtis Coates
Pollinator Landscapes - Native Beauty by Lonnie Fleming



Participation Throughout the Years
Photo Contest Guidelines
Learn more details about the contest.
Your pollinator photos may be submitted in one of three categories
- Pollinators Up-Close - photos that show the fine-detailed features of pollinators, such as their colors or anatomical features
- Pollinator-Flower Interactions - photos that show pollinators feeding on, flying near, or resting on flowers
- Pollinator Landscapes - photos that highlight the beauty of pollinator-friendly flowering plants in gardens, parks, and other outdoor settings
- Each contestant may submit up to a maximum of 5 photos. Note that each photo must be submitted with a separate entry form.
- Photos must be in jpg or png format.
- Photo entries will be accepted from June 1 to September 30, 2023.
- EIC staff will judge photos based on subject matter, composition, and aesthetics.
- Contest winners in each photo category will be notified by no later than October 31, 2023.
- Winning entrants will receive a bottle of EIC honey and their photos will be displayed on the EIC website.
When submitting photo entries, participants will be asked to release any claims to the photo, The attestation states:
I do hereby make the following statements, release, assignments and assurances to the University of Michigan-Dearborn (UM-Dearborn): I certify that I have read, agree to and will abide by the rules put forth in this document. I certify that I am the person who took the photograph(s) submitted here, and have sole, complete and unrestricted authority to release their use to UM-Dearborn. As the photographer, I retain all rights to any photograph(s) submitted -including ownership if applicable – but do hereby grant to UM-Dearborn the following: (i) a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to reproduce, distribute, use in publications, publicly display and publicly perform the photographs submitted, (ii) the right to use my name, city, state and country of residence in UM-Dearborn promotional material and other publications. I release UM-Dearborn from any liability whatsoever that arises from their use of the photographs(s), except for uses that violate the terms and conditions of this release.

In 2019, the University of Michigan-Dearborn became the first public university in Michigan to be recognized with Bee Campus USA certification for its education and conservation efforts with pollinators.