2025
Award Recipient: Dr. Angela Schmitz-Ornés

For her innovative field studies on cranes, terns, and bird eggs; her groundbreaking contributions to ecological research in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania; and her exceptional dedication to teaching and fostering the next generation of researchers.

Laudatory Address

In recognition of her diverse and pioneering ornithological research projects as co-director of the Hiddensee Bird Observatory at the Zoological Institute of the University of Greifswald.

After studying biology at the Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas (graduating in 1987), Dr. Schmitz-Ornés earned her Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Bonn with a dissertation on the analysis of spectral colors as a method for investigating geographic variation and taxonomic differentiation in hummingbirds. In 2007, she and her husband, Prof. Dr. Martin Haase, assumed the scientific directorship of the Hiddensee Bird Observatory at the University of Greifswald.

From the very beginning, she placed special emphasis on practical, methodologically diverse, and at the same time cost-effective research in the immediate regional environment. Since then, she has successfully utilized the ecologically valuable natural areas in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to develop and conduct innovative field studies, in which she actively involves undergraduate and graduate students.

Her projects cover a broad spectrum of topics: from individual variation in the color and shape of bird eggs to the detection of heavy metals in eggshells, as well as long-term studies on the breeding success of cranes and the influence of anthropogenic stressors. The migratory behavior of common terns and its effects on their reproductive biology are also among her primary research focuses. These studies are often conducted in collaboration with external research partners and combine field ecological methods with modern analytical techniques.

Several of her works have been published in the *Journal of Ornithology*. Two recent publications serve as examples illustrating the thematic breadth and scientific quality of her research:

• Pavlinec, Ž., Piro, S., Schmitz Ornés, A., et al. (2025). Influence of ocean primary production on the activity pattern of wintering Common Terns. J Ornithol 166: 633–645.
• Schmitz Ornés, A., Ducay, R. L., Fulmer, A. G., Hauber, M. E. (2023). Coloniality and development impact intraclutch consistency of avian eggs: a comparative analysis of the individual repeatability of eggshell size and shape metrics. Sci Nat 110, 12.

With this award, the jury recognizes not only Dr. Schmitz-Ornés’s scientific creativity and perseverance, but also her exceptional dedication to university teaching and her commitment to supporting the next generation of ornithologists.

We wish Dr. Angela Schmitz-Ornés all the best and continued success, joy, and fulfillment in her professional and personal future.

Presented by the
German Ornithological Society (Deutsche Ornithologische Gesellschaft e.V.
) at its 158th Annual Meeting
by President Dr. Dorit Visbeck-Liebers and Jury Spokesperson Dr. Karl Schulze-Hagen

Erfurt, September 18, 2025

The DOG Hans Löhrl Prize, endowed by the Dietmar Löhrl family, honors the memory of Hans Löhrl (1911–2001), director of the Radolfzell Bird Observatory of the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology from 1962 to 1976, and his pioneering work in ornithological ethology and ecology as well as in nature conservation.