Clive Minton died in a car accident on November 6, 2019 in Australia where he lived. The Linnaean Society of New York honored Minton with the Eisenmann Medal at the annual dinner in 2012. Minton is renowned for his study of shorebirds. He began his research on shorebirds in his native England. When his job in the metals industry required relocating to Australia, he continued and expanded his banding there. He pioneered the use of cannon nets to capture shorebirds. His long term studies have produced much information on shorebird migration, and have had consequential implications for their conservation. Minton shared his banding expertise with many others, and in many countries, including in South America and in the US. He came every year from 1997 to Delaware Bay to band the many shorebirds, in particular, the Red Knot, drawn to the horseshoe crab eggs. His voice helped give impetus to a limitation on the harvest of horseshoe crabs in New Jersey, and later to the current moratorium on harvesting.
Part of the Eisenmann Medal is for encouragement of the amateur. Minton, himself the ultimate amateur, was superlative in this regard. The volunteers who banded with him often attain a lifelong interest in shorebird, birds, and nature. His enthusiasm was well known and contagious. His life and work is an inspiration for us.
–Steven Chang