Interviews with Entomologists

Meet entomologists: Personalities and stories

You will find interviews with people, who have been particularly committed to entomological research here. They are supplemented at irregular intervals

How do researchers come to entomology, what is the fascination of the topic for them? Learn more about motivations and life paths.

Prof. DI Dr. Ernst Heiss

Ernst Heiss was born on 24 June 1936 in Innsbruck. After a successful career as an architect, he turned to studying biology, especially the taxonomy of the bark bugs (Aradidae).

His list of publications currently comprises 306 entomological works, including several very extensive ones describing 72 new genera and 243 recent species as well as 25 genera and 72 fossil species of Heteroptera.

Prof. Dr. Holger Heinrich Dathe

Holger Heinrich Dathe was born on 29 June 1945 in Gettengrün. According to his education and academic qualifications he worked as a behavioural biologist and animal physiologist.

As an entomologist he is researching in the field of hymenoptera. Dathe was director of the German Entomological Institute (DEI) in Müncheberg from 1993 to 2010, which has been part of the Senckenberg Society for Natural Research (SGN) in Frankfurt am Main since 2009. Until 2013 he was editor of the journals Beiträge zur Entomologie and Nova Supplementa Entomologica.
In 1999, he founded the board of trustees "Insect of the Year" in Germany.