2026
Award Recipient: Professor Dr. Sandra Bouwhuis
Laudatory Address
In recognition of her groundbreaking long-term studies of the common tern (Sterna hirundo). Her research focuses on the breeding colony at Banter Lake in Wilhelmshaven, which she has been studying for decades—a model population whose exceptionally comprehensive individual life histories provide unique insights into the ecology and evolution of long-lived birds. With this award, the DOG also honors her great commitment to science outreach, the promotion of young scientists, and nature conservation.
Presentation of the 2026 Hans-Löhrl Prize to Prof. Dr. Sandra Bouwhuis (center) by DOG President Dr. Dorit Visbeck-Liebers (right) and Dr. Karl Schulze-Hagen, laudator and honorary member of the DOG (left).
After completing her studies at the universities of Amsterdam and Groningen and conducting postdoctoral research at the universities of Sheffield and Oxford, Sandra Bouwhuis took on the project “Life-history evolution in Common Terns” at the Institute for Bird Research in Wilhelmshaven in 2013. Today, she is the scientific director of the institute.
The particular strength of her research lies in combining an exceptional long-term study with modern methods and current scientific questions. Since the individuals in the colony at Lake Banter have been known for over 30 years and their life histories have been tracked in detail, a unique dataset has been created that enables studies across generations.
The research interests of Sandra Bouwhuis and her team range from genetics, epigenetics, and the interplay between the environment and individual development, through social behavior, senescence, and lifespan, to the effects of heavy metals, plastic waste, and avian influenza. Other studies focus on individual variability in migration routes and wintering grounds. Increasingly, the research also centers on the consequences of climate change and other changes in the marine environment. More than 80 scientific publications on these and related topics document the great international significance of her research.
Sandra Bouwhuis is also particularly committed to the study and conservation of the critically endangered salmon tern.
By awarding the Hans Löhrl Prize, the jury honors not only Sandra Bouwhuis’s scientific achievements but also her ability to combine long-term ornithological research with the pressing ecological issues of our time, while simultaneously inspiring young scientists to pursue this research.
A special connection to the prize’s namesake lies in the long-term nature of her scientific approach: A comparison of Hans Löhrl’s early long-term studies from about 70 years ago with Sandra Bouwhuis’s current work impressively illustrates how the research questions, methods, and possibilities in ornithology have evolved—and how valuable the long-term observation of bird populations remains to this day.
The DOG extends its warmest congratulations to Professor Dr. Sandra Bouwhuis and wishes her continued success, joy, and fulfillment in her scientific work and in her personal future.
Mainz, September 17, 2026
Awarded by the
German Ornithological Society (DOG)
at its 159th Annual Meeting
Dr. Dorit Visbeck-Liebers
, President
Dr. Karl Schulze-Hagen
, Spokesperson for the Jury
The DOG’s Hans Löhrl Prize, endowed by the 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.
