Time-lapse video of athymeleaf speedwell reveals the reproductive strategy select plants may adopt when pollinators are scarce
Nikon Instruments Inc. today unveiled the winners of its 15th annualNikon Small World in Motion Video Competition, an integral component of the Nikon Small World competition and a showcase of the world's most dynamic microscopic imagery. The first-place prize was awarded to retired engineer-turned-microscopist Jay McClellan for his striking video capturing the self-pollination of a thymeleaf speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia). The process demonstrates the resilience found in nature, revealing one of the hidden strategies select species of plants use to adapt and survive.
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McClellan's work fuses decades of experience in industrial machine vision system development with a passion for microscopy and photography, resulting in videos that are both mesmerizing and informative. His winning video captures a tiny blue blossom opening to the morning sun, its stamens elongating until one curls toward the pistil, dusting the stigma with pollen and completing self-pollination. “This isn't some exotic plant you'd need to travel the world to find. It's a common 'weed' that might be growing right under your feet,” said McClellan. “I love the idea that anyone could discover beauty like this if they just looked closely.”
Thymeleaf speedwells bloom quickly and unpredictably, meaning filming such a fleeting biological process required a perfect storm of preparation, timing, and technique. To capture the video, McClellan had to anticipate movements and program a custom motion-control system to keep the reproductive structures perfectly in frame. He also employed advanced focus-stacking techniques to maintain crystal clarity across focal planes, a challenge that led him to develop his own hardware and software for microscopic video. “I may capture many terabytes of raw footage for a single shot,” he explained. “Running the focus-stacking overnight is like waiting for Christmas morning – you never know whether you'll get a disappointment or something amazing.”
McClellan emphasized the honor he feels to be among the many talented individuals who have participated in Nikon Small World for over five decades, and the importance of bringing the microscopic world to light: “The best part for me is not winning a prize but getting the opportunity to share my work with the world and let people see microscopic wonders in a new way.”
McClellan also earned an honorable mention in this year's Small World in Motion competition for his video of the dissolution and crystallization of cobalt, copper, and sodium chlorides. He has now placed four total videos in the competition since 2023, including his movie of water droplets evaporating from the wing scales of a peacock butterfly, for which he earned second place in the 2024 Small World in Motion competition.
“As we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Small World in Motion competition, this year's winners showcase the extraordinary choreography of life unfolding at a scale beyond ordinary sight,” said EricFlem, Senior Manager, Communications and CRM at Nikon Instruments. “Jay McClellan and all our other winners' videos reflect the competition's enduring purpose to inspire wonder, fuel discovery, and showcase the artistry inherent in scientific exploration.”
Outside of Nikon Small World,McClellan is currently working on a nature documentary featuring tiny creatures, using a portable version of his video rig to take his imaging techniques into the field.
Second placewas awarded to Benedikt Pleyer for his video of volvox algae swimming in a water drop that had been pipetted into the central opening of a Japanese 50 Yen Coin.
Third placewas awarded to Dr. Eric Vitriol for his video of actin and mitochondria in mouse brain tumor cells.
The 2025 judging panel included:
— Deboki Chakravarti, PhD, Science Communicator, Host and Creator of “Journey to the Microcosmos,” “Tiny Matters,” “Scishow Tangents,” and “Crash Course Organic Chemistry.”
— Jeff DelViscio, Chief Multimedia Editor and Executive Producer at Scientific American
— Andrew Moore, PhD, Postdoctoral Scientist in the Lippincott-Schwartz Lab at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus
— Liz Roth-Johnson, PhD, Curator of Life Sciences at the California Science Center
— W. Gregory Sawyer, PhD, Chief BioEngineering Officer and Chair of the Department of BioEngineering at the Moffitt Cancer Center
For additional information, please visitwww.nikonsmallworld.com, or follow the conversation on Facebook, Twitter @NikonSmallWorld and Instagram @NikonSmallWorld, and LinkedIn.
NIKON SMALL WORLD IN MOTION WINNERS
1st PlaceJay McClellanSaranac, Michigan, USA Self-pollination in a flower of thymeleaf speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia) Time lapse, Image Stacking 5X (Objective Lens Magnification)
2nd PlaceBenedikt Pleyer Kirchberg, Bavaria, GermanyVolvox algae swimming in water drop that has been pipetted into the central opening of a Japanese 50 Yen Coin Darkfield 50X (Objective Lens Magnification)
3rd PlaceDr. Eric Vitriol Augusta University Department of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine Augusta, Georgia, USA Actin and mitochondria in mouse brain tumor cells Super-Resolution 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
4th PlacePenny FentonIpswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom A tardigrade moving around a volvox algae colony Darkfield 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
5th PlaceDr. Alvaro MigottoCentro de Biologia Marinha São Sebastião, São Paulo, Brazil A newborn sea urchin walking along the seabed Darkfield 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Dr.Maik C. Bischoff University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Biology Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA Developing testis of a fly showing actin cytoskeleton (teal) and nuclei (red) Fluorescence 25X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Scott Burlingham, Dr. Soham Ghosh, Gabriel Galindo & Dr. Hiroshi Kimura Colorado State University Department of Biochemistry Fort Collins, Colorado, USA 24-hour time-lapse of mouse embryonic fibroblasts reforming their monolayer after scratch Confocal, Fluorescence 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Dr.Alexandre Dumoulin University of Zurich Department of Molecular Life Sciences Zurich, Switzerland In vitro growth of chick sensory neurons, shown in gold using a dye marking their internal structure (18 hour time lapse)Confocal 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Dr. LaurentFormery Stanford University Department of Biology Pacific Grove, California, USA Metamorphosis of two sea urchin larvae, from swimming bilateral larvae into pentaradial crawling juveniles Brightfield 5X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Quinten Geldhof Winthrop, Massachusetts, USA Circulatory system, gut, and claw function of an American dog tick Darkfield 4X and 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
SebastianGolojuch University of Oxford Department of Chemistry Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom Delivery of a synthetic mRNA to cultured HeLa cellsSpinning Disk Confocal 60X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Dr.Ziwen He & Min Y. Pack University of Minnesota Chemical Engineering and Material Science Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Glycerol/water droplet impacting on a thin oil layer Confocal 5X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Dr. Patrick C. Hickey Hypha Research Limited Edinburgh, Midlothian, United Kingdom Time lapse of hyphal fusion and mitochondrial dynamics in mycelium of a morel fungus (Morchella) Confocal 60X (Objective Lens Magnification)
JayMcClellanSaranac, Michigan, USA Dissolution and crystallization of cobalt, copper and sodium chlorides Darkfield, Time Lapse, Image Stacking 5X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Grace McLaughlin & Dr. Amy Gladfelter UNC Chapel Hill and Duke UniversityUNC: Department of Biology, Duke: Department of Cell Biology Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA Nuclei flowing through a fungal mycelium Confocal40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Dr.Alvaro Migotto Centro de Biologia Marinha São Sebastião, São Paulo, Brazil Marine mollusk larva before and after metamorphosis Darkfield 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Irina Petrova AdamatzkyUWE Bristol College of Arts, Technology and Environment Bristol, Somerset, United Kingdom A Japanese boxer mantis (Acromantis japonica) laying her ootheca (egg case) Reflected Light 2X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Benedikt Pleyer Kirchberg, Bavaria, GermanyCyanobacteria (Oscillatoria princeps) filaments from Ishigaki, Japan Polarized Light 200X – 400X (Objective Lens Magnification)
LouisRomette & Christophe Leterrier Aix-Marseille Université Institut de NeuroPhysioPathologie Marseille, France Live 65-hour recording of rat hippocampal neuron growth (day 3 to day 6) Confocal 60X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Dr.Gaylene Russell McEvoy, Dr. Graham Fraser & Dr. Hamza Shogan Memorial University of Newfoundland Division of BioMedical Sciences St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Red blood cells flowing through a capillary network in rat skeletal muscleBrightfield 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Dr. Zachary Sanchez Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee, USA Contracting human heart muscle cells showing mitochondria (red) and calcium waves (blue) Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) 60X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Wim van Egmond Micropolitan Museum Berkel en Rodenrijs, Zuid Holland, Netherlands Cornflower root hairsImage Stacking 5X and 25X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Wim van Egmond Micropolitan Museum Berkel en Rodenrijs, Zuid Holland, Netherlands Hat thrower fungus (Pilobolus) on rabbit dung Image Stacking 5X (Objective Lens Magnification)
Janosch WaldkircherBasel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland Male dung beetle (Sulcophanaeus imperator). Composition of 7,073 individual imagesFocus Stacking Video1.4X (Objective Lens Magnification)
About the Nikon Small World CompetitionThe Nikon Small World Competition is open to anyone with an interest in photography or video. Participants may upload digital images and videos directly at www.nikonsmallworld.com. For additional information, contact Nikon Small World, Nikon Instruments Inc., 1300 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 11747, USA, or phone (631) 547-8569. Entry forms for Nikon's 2026 Small World and Small World in Motion Competitions are available at https://enter.nikonsmallworld.com/.
About Nikon Instruments Inc.Nikon Instruments Inc. is the US microscopy arm of Nikon Healthcare, a world leader in the development and manufacturing of optical, digital imaging technology and software for biomedical applications. For more information, please visithttps://www.microscope.healthcare.nikon.com or contact us at 1-800-52-NIKON.
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