Hermann Wagner is a biologist who was director of the Institute of Biology II at RWTH Aachen University until his retirement in 2018. He and his group examined the neuro-ethology of the prey-capture behavior of barn owls, a specialist for hunting in the night. The specific adaptations of the acute auditory and visual senses, silent flight, and their potential for applications in a bio-mimetic sense, were in the center of the research. Hermann Wagner is also interested in conservation and conducted a project on the status of the owls in Galapagos and on general ornithological questions in Germany. Hermann Wagner is a member in the editorial boards of Comparative Physiology A and Animals, a member of Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Academy of Science and Literature Mainz. He was president of the German Zoological Society from 2011 to 2012. Beyond science, he is doing service for the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Bonn. Hermann Wagner is also member of the discussion group Science/Theology of the Protestant Church in the Rhineland and member of the council for natural conservation in his hometown, Aachen. One of his hobbies is ornithology, and he has been an active ornithologist since his 14th birthday.