<p>
	We&#39;re happy to announce the winners of the second annual &#39;Friends of Au Sable <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150981298184395.439293.45780179394&amp;type=3">photo contest</a> (see below)! &nbsp;This year&#39;s submissions displayed a dizzying array of plants, animals, landscapes, people, and activity from Au Sable&#39;s four locations...and your home places. They remind us of the incredible opportunity students have to interact with and learn about the wildlife and ecosystems that surround Au Sable&#39;s campuses and how those unique places nurture a special community each season. Our new category, My Backyard, allowed us to share the often mesmerizing and sometimes disturbing environments that make up our homes and call for our care.</p>
<p>
	We hope that you had as much fun seeing the photographs that came in as we did. Thanks to all of you who submitted pictures and brought us back to our own Au Sable experiences! While the winning photographs are shown below, please take a moment to enjoy the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150981298184395.439293.45780179394&amp;type=3">142 photographs submitted for the contest</a>. They&#39;re fantastic.</p>
<p>
	Once again impressed by the number of beautiful pictures and talented photographers, we&#39;re pleased to announce our winners. Our panel of artistic, Au Sable alumni selected our&nbsp;grand prize winner and honorable mentions. The winners for each category were selected by you, the wider Au Sable community. Winners will get to choose from our list of <a href="http://ausablephotocontest.weebly.com/prizes.html">staff-inspired prizes</a>.</p>
<p>
	Without further adieu, here are the winners, runners-up and honorable mentions:</p>
<h2>
	Grand Prize</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Ken_Sytsma-Field-LadyslipperSpider-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 400px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	&quot;Ladyslipper with Spider,&quot; Ken Sytsma, Bauer Preserve, Antrim County (SSI 2004)</p>
<h2>
	Runner Up</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Rachel_Bergman-Community-Big_Twin-May_2012-restfulday-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 450px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	&quot;Restful Day,&quot; Rachel Bergman, Big Twin Lake, MI (May 2012)</p>
<h2>
	Runner Up</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}KateWilcox-Horse_Marsh_7-10-11-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 480px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Kate Wilcox, Horse Marsh, Barrington, NH (July 2011)</p>
<h2>
	Runner Up</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}KateWilcox_Vetters 5-25-10C-180-heron-with-babies silhouette-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 750px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	&quot;Heron with babe,&quot; Kate Wilcox, Barrington, NH (May 2010)</p>
<h2>
	Runner Up</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Karrie_Meekhof-Place-Summer Session I 2012-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 900px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Karrie Meekhof, Sleeping Bear Dunes, MI (June 2012)</p>
<h2>
	Field Category Winner</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Field-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 422px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	&quot;Painted Turtle,&quot; Michelle LaForge, Big Twin Lake, MI (June 2012)</p>
<h2>
	Place Category Winner</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Place-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 414px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	&quot;Orca Breaching,&quot; Sarah Kahanic, Limekiln State Park, WA (SSI 2011)</p>
<h2>
	Community Category Winner</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Community-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 402px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	&quot;Sawing Logs,&quot; Jessica Broucek, Great Lakes Campus, MI (Fall Internship 2001)</p>
<h2>
	My Backyard Category Winner</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Backyard-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 450px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	&quot;Backyard Owls,&quot; Melissa Warwick, Vernon, BC (2011)</p>
<h2>
	Honorable Mentions</h2>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Peter_Cahill-Field-GreatLakes-SSI2012-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 450px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Peter Cahill, Great Lakes Campus (May 2012)</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Luke_Snyder-Field-Big_Twin_Lake-SSI2009-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 399px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Luke Snyder, Big Twin Lake, MI (SSI 2009)</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Kevin_McGrath-Field-Louis_Pond-2008-Emergence-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 900px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	&quot;Emergence,&quot; Kevin McGrath, Louie&#39;s Pond (Summer 2008)</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Sarah_Kahanic-Field-HurricaneRidgeOlympicNatlPark-SSII2011-Marmonts, and Mountain Goats, and Eric_ Oh Deer!-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 450px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Sarah Kahanic, Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park, WA (SSII 2011)</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Rachel_Long-Field-Pickerel_Lake-May2012-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 451px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Rachel Long, Pickerel Lake, MI (May 2012)</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Rachel_Bergman-Community-Big_Twin-May2012-onbigtwin-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 800px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Rachel Bergman, Big Twin Lake, MI (May 2012)</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Caitlin_Saupe-Place-Tamil_Nadu-Jan2012-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 395px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Caitlin Saupe, Tamil Nadu, India (January 2012)</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Jeff_Ploegstra-Backyard-Karl_Kurtz_Property-Summer-2010-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 450px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Jeff Ploegstra, Karl Kurtz&#39;s Property, IA (Summer 2010)</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Peter_Cahill-Field-GreatLakes-SSI2012-2-600pxl.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 423px; float: left; " /></p>
<p>
	Peter Cahill, Great Lakes Campus (May 2012)</p>
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