Honorary Member 2025
Prof. Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese
In recognition of her outstanding scientific contributions to ornithology and biodiversity research, her international commitment to research and teaching, as well as her special dedication to sustainability and social responsibility.
Citation
Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear members of the German Ornithological Society, it is my pleasure and honor to pay tribute today to a scientist who has shaped ornithology and biodiversity research in Germany and far beyond for more than three decades: Prof. Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese.
Since joining the DOG in 1992, she has been closely associated with our society. Her career is rooted in ornithology: she devoted her diploma thesis to the feeding ecology of the White Stork in Upper Swabia, supervised by Prof. Klaus Schmidt-Koenig, then President of the DOG. She later became a postdoctoral researcher at what was then the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, under Prof. Peter Berthold, likewise a former DOG president. In this way, her biography stands in a long tradition closely linked to our society.
This was followed by a dissertation on the causes of long-term population trends in European and North American songbirds, as well as a habilitation on species communities. She thus laid the foundation early on for her now internationally recognized profile in macroecology and social-ecological systems.
As Director of the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt/Main, she made key contributions to ornithological and ecological research over many years. Since 2024, in her role as Scientific Managing Director of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, she has been shaping German and international environmental research.
Her scientific impact is evidenced not only by numerous publications and major research projects, including the DFG research groups on Kilimanjaro, but also by her exceptional commitment to public science communication: with countless lectures, keynotes, and debates, she brings ornithological and ecological topics to the center of society.
Her achievements have been recognized many times, including with the German Environmental Award, membership in the Leopoldina, and most recently the Karl Ritter von Frisch Medal of the German Zoological Society. Particularly noteworthy is her commitment to the German Council for Sustainable Development, where since 2023 she has been providing impetus for a future-oriented transformation of society, business, and politics—always with an eye to responsibility for future generations.
Through her research, her commitment, and her personality, Katrin Böhning-Gaese has made ornithology visible far beyond the boundaries of our field. She exemplifies how scientific excellence and social relevance can work hand in hand.
The German Ornithological Society is proud to honor Prof. Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese as an honorary member today.
Erfurt, 19 September 2025
Dr. Dorit Visbeck-Liebers
President
Prof. Dr. Franz Bairlein
Honorary President
