2010
Award Recipient: Dr. Frank Steinheimer

Dr. Frank Steinheimer received
the 2010 Maria Koepcke Prize from the “Ornithological Collections” project group of the German Ornithological Society for his contributions to the study of historical bird collections.

Since completing his studies at the Universities of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Vienna, Dr. Steinheimer has worked for over 10 years in various positions at three major European museums: Vienna, Tring, and Berlin. In addition to his curatorial work and his own field studies—for example, in Southeast Asia—he specialized during this time in historical bird collections, their history, and their zoological, taxonomic, and cultural-historical significance. These studies culminated in his 2005 dissertation at the University of Rostock.

His numerous publications cover the collection histories of notable collectors such as James Cook and Charles Darwin, as well as type lists and taxonomic studies. In doing so, he has a knack for inspiring a broad audience’s interest in historical collections by drawing connections to historical figures and current research topics. At the same time, his research has gained recognition in professional circles, for example through his appointment to the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature (SCON) and to the advisory board of the DO-G.

Since 2008, Dr. Steinheimer has been working as project manager on the “University Museum of Natural History” project at the University of Halle-Wittenberg.