The Linnean Medal (Research)

The Linnean Medal for significant and sustained advances in the understanding of nature. This includes academic research into any relevant branch, including science, history and the humanities.

Awarded annually by Council to an academic (in any field), as an expression of the Society's esteem and appreciation for service to research in any discipline related to the study of natural history. Any academic, irrespective of nationality, who is not at the time a member of Council, is eligible to receive the Medal, which is presented at the annual Anniversary Meeting by the President.

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.

• Open to any researcher, of any nationality or age, in any field of academic research relating to study of natural history in all its branches (e.g. taxonomy, systematics, phylogenetics, evolution, ecology, history of natural history)
• 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

Professor Melanie Stiassny 

'My first visit to the Linnean was as a graduate student based at the Natural History Museum, and I was awestruck. Champion of the enduring importance of the study of natural history, and all that that entails, the Society has served as a bellwether throughout my career. I am beyond humbled by this award from a Society I so respect.'

Professor Melanie Stiassny has made a remarkable contribution to ichthyology through pioneering research on fish taxonomy, systematics and evolutionary morphology across the teleost tree of life, with particular focus on African freshwater fishes and cichlids. Her work blends classical anatomy with geometric morphometrics, microCT and DiceCT imaging and 3D reconstruction to explore how fishes evolve and diversify. Long-term fieldwork in the Congo River, conducted regularly since 1996, has revealed extraordinary patterns of biodiversity and speciation in complex river systems, including blind species adapted to low-light environments and evidence for gene loss in their evolution. Melanie has described over 70 new species, three genera, and a new family while documenting worrying declines in aquatic biodiversity. Her research has informed conservation strategies and championed the enduring importance of natural history collections.