The Bicentenary Medal

Awarded to an early-career scientist, in recognition of excellent research in the natural sciences.

Struck in silver to commemorate the 200th anniversary in 1978 of the death of Linnaeus, the Bicentenary Medal is awarded annually in recognition of work done by a scientist with fewer than 10 years of research experience since their PhD.
 

Nominations are now closed. Nominations will re-open in summer 2026. If you are interested in making a nomination and would like more information, please contact nominations@linnean.org.

• Nominee must have fewer than 10 years of FTE research experience since the award of their PhD. This time period does not need to be continuous—the award is open to nominees who have taken career breaks or extended leave, e.g. parental or long-term sick leave.

• Open to any scientist of any nationality, in any field of the natural sciences (e.g. taxonomy, systematics, phylogenetics, evolution, ecology)

• For their excellent biological research, and contribution to the wider natural history community, e.g. editorial and/or committee/policy work/public engagement)

• Nominee cannot, at the time of nomination, be a member of Council

• Nominee does not need to be a Fellow of the Society

• We do not accept self-nominations

• Nominations cannot be made by a family member of the nominee

Dr James T. Stroud 

'Receiving this honour from the Linnean Society of London is profoundly meaningful to me—both as an evolutionary biologist and a Londoner. To be recognized here, at the very heart of evolutionary biology’s history, is deeply personal, incredibly exciting, and very special.'

Dr James T. Stroud is an outstanding early-career evolutionary ecologist, recognised for the breadth and impact of his work. He has authored 61 publications with over 3,000 citations. In 2025, he received the Maxwell/Hanrahan Award for Field Biology and a Packard Fellowship from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation.

His 2025 paper in Nature synthesises key insights from long-term evolution research, complementing more than a decade of work on natural selection in a wild lizard community on ‘Lizard Island’, Florida—one of the longest-running multi-species studies.

Committed to mentorship and outreach, James founded Lizards on the Loose, which since 2014 has engaged thousands of middle-school students annually, produced 10,000+ biodiversity records, and introduced many underrepresented students to science.