The Gerard Mills Memorial Prize for Wildlife Photography is a showcase and celebration of the diversity of our wildlife, through photography. This competition is an acknowledgement to students who capture the true essence of local wildlife through their photography.
Honouring a UniSC legend
The Gerard Mills Memorial Prize honours the memory of UniSC Honorary Senior Fellow, Mr. Gerard Mills. Gerard devoted much of his life to education, art, and photography. He spent almost four years taking more than 30,000 photos of wildlife activity, each week walking kilometres of UniSC's 100-hectare Sunshine Coast campus to find rare and elusive species.
Mr. Mills documented almost 600 species including everything from the tiniest beetles to the biggest kangaroos, from snakes and birds to bandicoots and sugar gliders.
2023 Competition winners announced
Winners were announced at the Design Showcase at the UniSC Art Gallery on 3 November 2023. Works by finalists will be displayed on screens at the UniSC Maker Space (UniSC Sunshine Coast) and The Rise (UniSC Moreton Bay) during November.
Explore 2023 winners
UniSC students - First prize
Lauren Railey – Cattle Egrets (UniSC Sunshine Coast)
UniSC students - Second prize
Matt Austin – Dingo (K'gari)
UniSC students - Third prize
Heather Smith – Red Arrow Dragonfly (UniSC Sunshine Coast)
UniSC students - Highly commended
Edward Adams – Iridescent Lead Cylinder Beetle (UniSC Sunshine Coast)
UniSC students - Windows Desktop prize
Alena Noemi Stoll – Ducks (UniSC Sunshine Coast)
School aged students - First prize
Spencer Hitchen - Glossy Black Cockatoo
School aged students - Second prize
Phillippa Loneragan – Fairy Wren
School aged students - Highly commended
Bryce Riley Lues – Bees
School aged students - Highly commended
Arwen Brown – Spider
2023 Prizes
School aged student category
- First prize: Spencer Hitchen - Glossy Black Cockatoo (A$250 gift voucher)
- Second prize: Phillippa Loneragan – Fairy Wren (A$150 gift voucher)
- Highly Commended: Bryce Riley Lues – Bees
- Highly Commended: Arwen Brown – Spider
UniSC student category
- First prize: Lauren Railey – Cattle Egrets, UniSC Sunshine Coast (A$1,000 cash)
- Second prize: Matt Austin – Dingo, K'gari (A$300 cash)
- Third prize: Heather Smith – Red Arrow Dragonfly, UniSC Sunshine Coast (A$200 cash)
- Highly Commended: Edward Adams – Iridescent Lead Cylinder Beetle, UniSC Sunshine Coast
Windows Desktop Prize (UniSC students only)
The UniSC IT team will select an appropriate image to roll out for their next Windows upgrade which will sit as the background to the login page on all UniSC Windows computers (in computer labs and staff computers).
- 2023 winner: Alena Noemi Stoll - Ducks, UniSC Sunshine Coast
- Runners up: Madelen Michelsen (Bees), Lauren Railey (Galah), Heather Smith (Dragonfly)
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Photo finish: UniSC triathlete wins gold… in wildlife photography
Lucy Bowden's stunning photo of a black swan wins 2022 Gerard Mills Prize for Wildlife Photography
Noisy miner takes the prize in photography contest
From a noisy miner to a water dragon to a soaring osprey – the winning entries of an annual University of the Sunshine Coast photographic competition have highlighted its students’ fascination with wildlife on campus.