SHNH William T. Stearn Student Essay Prize 2022
Instituted in 2007 to commemorate the work of William T. Stearn (1911–2001), a scholar whose work contributed much to the field and to this Society, the prize is awarded to the best original, unpublished essay in the history of natural history.
The competition is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students worldwide in full- or part-time education, and to postdoctoral students within two years of the award of their doctorate. It is not limited to members of SHNH.
The winner will receive £300 and the winning essay will normally be published in the Society’s journal Archives of Natural History, subject to the normal editorial process.
Closing date is 31 July 2022
Guidelines
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- Prize winners are chosen by a panel of 3 judges (all members of the Society).
- Competition opens on 01 February 2022.
- All entries must be received by the Secretary by 31 July 2022 .
- Essays should not have been previously published, and must not be under consideration at another journal.
Selection Criteria
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- The prize will be awarded to the essay which contributes most significantly to the history of natural history, including its social and cultural aspects.
Submission
Entries must be in English and between 5,000 and 8,000 words in length including footnotes and references. Each entry must be accompanied by an abstract of between 300 and 500 words and keywords.
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- Entries must follow the Style Guidelines of Archives of Natural History (https://www.euppublishing.com/page/anh/submissions).
- A copy of the essay (either a Word document or a PDF) should be e-mailed to the SHNH Secretary (secretary@shnh.org.uk). Images and graphs can be included within the main file.If the files are large please send by We Transfer (https://wetransfer.com/).
- There should be no reference to your name or your institution on the essay itself.
- The completed Application Form and proof of student status should also be attached.
- Applicants will be notified of the results when the judges have reached their decision.
SHNH Stearn Essay Prize Winners
2021 winner of the SHNH Stearn Essay Prize
Max Long (University of Cambridge) is the 2021 winner of the SHNH Stearn Student Essay Prize with his essay:
“Nature on the airwaves: natural history and the BBC in interwar Britain”.
Amelia Urry (University of Cambridge) is the 2020 winner of the SHNH Stearn Student Essay Prize with her essay:
Hearsay, Gossip, Misapprehension: Alfred Newton’s secondhand histories of extinction.
Archives of Natural History, October 2021, 48 (2): 244-262.
See also: https://shnh.org.uk/news/shnh-stearn-essay-prize-2020-awarded-to-amelia-urry-cambridge/
Nathan Smith (University of Cambridge) is the 2019 winner of the SHNH Stearn Student Essay Prize with his essay
Provincial mycology and the legacy of Henry Thomas Soppitt (1858–1899).
Archives of Natural History 47 (2): 219-235 (October 2020).
See also: https://shnh.org.uk/news/william-t-stearn-essay-prize-2019/
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Max Long (University of Cambridge)Nature on the airwaves: natural history and the BBC in interwar Britain |
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Amelia Urry (University of Cambridge).Hearsay, Gossip, Misapprehension: Alfred Newton’s secondhand histories of extinction
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Nathan Smith (University of Cambridge)Provincial mycology and the legacy of Henry Thomas Soppitt (1858–1899)
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Carissa Chew (University of Edinburgh)The ant as metaphor: Orientalism, imperialism and myrmecology
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Aaron van Neste (Harvard University)Practising taxonomy: Joel Asaph Allen and species making
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Lee Raye (Cardiff University)
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Etienne Stockland (Columbia University)
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Matthew Holmes (University of Leeds)
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Andrea Kennedy (University of Cambridge)The beauty of Victorian beasts: illustration in the Reverand J. G. Wood’s “Homes without Hands”
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Nils Petter Hellström (University of Cambridge)The tree as evolutionary icon: Tania Kovats’s TREE in the Natural History MuseumArchives of Natural History, April 2011, 38 (1): 1-17. |
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Stephanie Pfennigwerth (University of Tasmania)‘The mighty cassowary’: the discovery and demise of the King Island emuArchives of Natural History, April 2010, 37 (1): 74-90. |
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Ross Brooks (Oxford Brooks University)All too human: responses to same-sex copulation in the common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha (L.)Archives of Natural History, April 2009, 36 (1): 146-159. |
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Heather Brink-Roby (Harvard University)Siren canora: the mermaid and the mythical in late nineteenth-century science
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Professor William T. Stearn CBE FLS VMH
William T. Stearn, CBE FLS VMH, was an outstanding botanical scholar, deemed the complete naturalist and was described in his obituary in The Times as “the greatest botanical authority of the twentieth century”. Born in Chesterton, Cambridge, he developed an early interest in books and natural history. He worked at the British Museum (Natural History) from 1953–1976, retiring as a Senior Principal Scientific Officer. After his retirement, he continued working there, writing, and serving on a number of professional bodies related to his work, including the Linnean Society of London, of which he became president. He also taught botany at Cambridge University as a visiting professor (1977–1983).
Professor Stearn is known for his work in botanical taxonomy and botanical history, particularly classical botanical literature, botanical illustration and for his studies of the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus. His best known books are his “Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners”, a popular guide to the scientific names of plants, and his “Botanical Latin” for scientists and he is the the botanical authority for over 400 plant species. William Stearn received many honours for his work, at home and abroad, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1997. He received the Linnean Gold Medal of The Linnean Society of London (1976), and the Society for the History of Natural History’s Founders’ Medal (1986).
The SHNH Stearn Student Essay Prize was established in his honour by the Society for the History of Natural History and Max Long (2021) is the thirteenth winner of the prize.