photo of Sara at scope with her dad

Lindsay Lab Photomicrograph Gallery

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All of the following images were obtained using a microscope, most with a compound microscope equipped for differential interference contrast and epifluorescence microscopy. In my research I also use a stereomicroscope (for sorting samples), a confocal laser scanning microscope (cLSM), and scanning and transmission electron microscopes. To learn more about microscopy, check out these microscopy resource sites by Olympus and Nikon.

All images on this page are copyrighted and purposely displayed at low resolution.Please do not use any of them on a web page, CD-ROM, printed or otherwise published work without receiving permission in advance from slindsay@maine.edu.

NOTE: You may use these low-resolution images for class lectures or for unpublished school reports without asking for permission (although it's always nice to know if they are being used), but they will not be very pretty. Higher resolution copies may be requested (free for classroom use) by emailing slindsay@maine.edu.

David Munson wrote a very nice article about the intersection of my science and art for the UMaine Today magazine. The photo on the header is from that article; it's of me and my dad.

Other articles/interviews featuring my work include:

Women in the Worm Force, by Murray Carpenter, Bangor Daily News, Nov. 6, 2006, pages C10-C11

Beauty and the Least, by Meredith Goad, Maine Sunday Telegram, Jan 21, 2007, pages G1, G6.

The jaws stand out in this photo of a juvenile nereidid polychaete. Winner of the 2006 American Microscopical Society Photomicrography contest, color division. ©Sara Lindsay.


artistically filtered nereis parapodia

OK, this one is more art than science. I used simultaneous epifluorescence (UV) and brightfield illumination to capture an image of a Nereidid parapodia at 4X. Applying the "glowing edges" filter in Photoshop produced this striking image. © Sara Lindsay


confocal image of regenerating worm head

Regenerating spionid brain and feeding palp nerves. Depth coded 3D projection showing the fluorescence of an antibody labeling alpha tubulin, imaged with a confocal laser scanning microscope. © David Forest & Sara Lindsay

This array of hooded hooks on a spionid polychaete is an important taxonomic feature. Chaetae (=Setae, or bristles) help worms hold onto their tubes and move through the sand grains. Honorable Mention in the 2005 Olympus Bioscapes International Digital Imaging Competition. © Sara Lindsay


mussel calcite art

More Art. On the left is a DIC image of disintegrating mussel shell. On the right is the same image after applying a wave filter in Photoshop. © Sara Lindsay


ciliate on feeding palp of a worm

A stalked ciliate hitches a ride on the feeding palp of a spionid polychaete. © Sara Lindsay

Graceful compound setae seem to reach to the light in this DIC image. © Sara Lindsay


photo of snail operculum autofluorescence

This is not modified. I simply imaged the autofluorescence of a snail operculum under UV illumination. The swirls were created as the snail added new layers to its "door". © Sara Lindsay


scanning electron microscope of regenerating worm head

Scanning electron microscopy provides a different perspective on this spionid polychaete. The worm is regenerating its two feeding palps. © Sara Lindsay

UV and brightfield illumination  of setae

The eerie blue glow from these compound setae is due to UV autofluorescence. The worm cross-section was viewed with simultaneous epifluorescence and brightfield illumination.
© Sara Lindsay


photo of eggs in a capitellid worm

Eggs in the coelom of a capitellid polychaete. DIC. © Sara Lindsay


A swimming larva of the spionid polychaete Polydora cornuta flares its setae (bristles) when startled. © Sara Lindsay


©2006-2008
Sara Lindsay

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