2015
Award Winner Jörg Asmus

The DO-G awards Mr. Jörg Asmus (Güstrow) the 2015 Maria Koepcke Prize for his studies of bird collections. 

Unlike many previous award recipients, Mr. Asmus is not a professional ornithologist; rather, he devotes his free time with great dedication to tackling challenging ornithological questions. This work is particularly noteworthy because Mr. Asmus does not come from the traditional (field) ornithology community but is much more deeply rooted in the field of bird keeping and breeding.

Because it is a matter of great importance to him to preserve bird forms within their original population-genetic context—rather than allowing them to drift phenotypically further and further from their wild forms—his work is closely linked to the classical systematic and taxonomic studies conducted in museums.

In preparation for the conservation breeding projects he has initiated or supported, Mr. Asmus has intensively studied and published on the phenotypic variation and distinguishability of the respective bird groups, particularly parrots. These activities have repeatedly taken him to various ornithological collections both in Germany and abroad, with which he continues to maintain good relationships.

His examination of population characteristics through comparisons of specimens and live birds exemplifies how interdisciplinary research advances bird conservation and the role that collections can play in this effort. His contributions thus provide important impetus—particularly among bird breeders—for coordinated and scientifically sound projects aimed at preserving wild bird forms in captivity. His efforts toward conservation-oriented breeding of rare bird species have therefore earned him recognition from various zoos, with which Mr. Asmus also collaborates closely.

The awarding of the Maria Koepcke Prize to Mr. Asmus is intended to explicitly honor the scientific meticulousness and personal dedication of an amateurornithologist, who, through his studies of bird collections, has laid a solid foundation for conservation-oriented and population-biologically sound breeding practices—an approach that is not taken for granted in bird-keeping circles.


On behalf of the jury: Dr. Till Töpfer

Presented at the 148th Annual Meeting of the DO-G in Konstanz on October 1, 2015