Dr Marek Špinka was awarded an Honorary Fellow of the International Society for Animal Ethology (ISAE) in 2019 and was granted a lifetime membership to the Society. He belongs among the leading international experts in the field of applied ethology. For more than 30 years he has worked at the Department of Ethology in IAS. Over the years he was a longstanding member of ISAE where he reached the position of the Society’s President (2005 - 2007). His research has represented a wide range of topics. He has published theoretical papers as well as the results of experiments dealing with animal play, maternal, and agonistic behaviour. Also, he investigated communication between animals and the ontogeny of behaviour. He joined and also initiated several international co-projects. His work significantly contributed to the development of knowledge in this field.