Around the world in 85 pictures

Members of the Rice community were able to enjoy an around-the-world adventure March 18 at Rice Coffeehouse, which played host to the Study-Abroad Photo Contest. The contest included 85 photos taken during Rice students’ travels to all corners of the globe.

Brown College junior Yulun Zeng’s photo, “Cooking in Desert,” received the Best in Show award. The picture was taken in Wadi Rum, Jordan, and shows a local preparing a meal at sunset.

Best in Show: "Cooking in Desert."

“Sand in the desert can get very hot during the day,” Zeng said. “This heat remains in the ground by evening. So people could bury their pots and use the heat to cook. The effect it creates is very similar to broiling.”

This was the fifth year for the contest, which requires that entrants submit a short explanation of how their photo submission captured something special and unique about the location, the people or the culture of the region they visited.

The People’s Choice winner will be selected April 18 according to which picture receives the greatest number of Facebook likes. The pictures are available online at http://on.fb.me/1CLZY3q. Rice faculty members serving on the judging panel determined the other winners, which include the following:

Category: People
Winner: Breaking the Barriers (Hanna Downing)
Honorable Mention: Horse Boy (Yulun Zeng)

Category: Places
Winner: Abandoned Home (Steve Peterson)
Honorable Mention: Swingin’ Around (Shannon McKearnan)

A Rice student looks at entries in the 2015 Study-Abroad Photo Contest.

Category: Nature
Winner: An Irish Warmblood (Annaliese Elam)
Honorable Mention: Cloud Over Mountains (Steve Peterson)

Category: Everyday Life
Winner: Post-Flood Morocco (Annaliese Elam)
Honorable Mention: The Pup on the Tube (Ariel Guerrero-Stewart)

Category: Culture, Customs, and Traditions
Winner: Cooking in Desert (Yulun Zeng)
Honorable Mention: Kung Hei Fat Choy to You (Ariel Guerrero-Stewart

For more information on Rice’s study-abroad options, visit http://abroad.rice.edu/.