If a picture is worth a thousand words, what better way of raising conservation and wildlife awareness than this – the world’s most prestigious global wildlife photography exhibition at Science Oxford.

Be amazed by the stunning images and the stories told by the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year as the exhibition travels back from its international tour.

Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year has gathered together the top 100 photographs chosen from the 32,000 submitted entries in 55 countries.

Each photograph tells a different story and shows the artistry and patience it takes to be a world-class photographer.

The annual competition aims to find the best wildlife pictures taken by worldwide professional and amateur photographers alike, and opened initially at the Natural History Museum in London.

The annual competition was judged earlier this year, with a top prize of £10,000, and the two winners were both from the UK – Ben Osbourne with ‘elephant creation’ and the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, nine-year old Patrick Corning’s ‘monkeys in Costa Rica’.

To accompany this high profile exhibition of images from around the world, Science Oxford ran a photo competition ‘Oxfordshire Wildlife Exposed’ last summer asking local residents to send their best pictures capturing wildlife in the county. The three winners - overall, under 16 and over 16 categories – will be announced on Wednesday and shortlisted entries will be digitally exhibited at Science Oxford alongside the main exhibition.

Science Oxford organisers are expecting thousands of visitors to flood into the exhibition before it closes on January 2009. In addition a series of events held in November and December will tackle subjects such as orang-outan and gibbon conservation in Indonesia and the impact of domestic cats on wild bird population in Britain, culminating with naturalist and TV broadcaster Nick Baker enthusiastically sharing his experience with nature at our Science Oxford Christmas Lecture.

Science Oxford is a unique public venue in St Clements enabling everyone aged 5 to 105 to discover, explore and debate science through exhibitions, public events and a Hands On science gallery for children and their families.

For details of more events, visit www.scienceoxford.com