About Dr Stephan M. Blank

Dr Stephan M. Blank has been working at the German Entomological Institute in Eberswalde and the Senckenberg DEI in Müncheberg since 1995. He completed his doctorate in 2002 under Prof Dr Walter Sudhaus at the Free University of Berlin on the taxonomy, ecology and phylogeny of the old-world protoleaf wasps (Hymenoptera, Xyelidae). Mr Blank set up the DGaaE office in 1999, which is now managed by Mr Arne Köhler. From 2009–2019 he was treasurer of the DGaaE and since then he has been an assessor on the DGaaE board. He contributed significantly to the organisation of the Entomology Congresses in Berlin, Frankfurt/Main, Freising, Halle/Saale and Bolzano.

From 2013 to 2014, Mr Blank was the acting director of the SDEI, and since 2014 he has been the deputy director of the SDEI. In this role, he is overseeing the construction of the SDEI extension in energy-sustainable solid wood construction, among other things.

As curator at the SDEI, he is responsible for the Hemimetabola collection in collaboration with Arne Köhler and is also responsible for other collections such as Coleoptera and Hymenoptera on a temporary basis. His research projects are mainly focussed on plant wasps (Hymenoptera, "Symphyta") and their parasitoids, currently in particular on the primordial leaf wasps of the USA and East Asia.