"Dove Courtesy of Chlorophyll Fluorescence Analysis"
This year's winning holiday card was submitted by Shaun Bailey and Blaise Hamel from the Department of Plant Biology [1].
The dove design on the leaf was made using chlorophyll fluorescence analysis, a technique which allows the determination of the efficiency of photosynthesis.
Photosynthetic efficiency is reduced after exposure to intense light. In order to produce the image, Carnegie scientists placed a mask in the shape of a dove on a leaf, thereby serving to block light from reaching the portion of the leaf covered by the mask.
After the mask was removed, the scientists made a chlorophyll fluorescence image of the leaf. The dove glows with a different color from the remainder of the leaf because of the difference in photosynthetic efficiency.
Congratulations to the winning submission, and many thanks go out to everyone who participated.