Career
He worked as an assistant in the Section of Invertebrates in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History from 1909 to 1933. Malacological collections by Sterki of Pupillidae has 4000 lots and of Sphaeriidae has 12,000 lots. Both collections are deposited in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
The malacological journal Sterkiana and the snail species Guppya sterkii were named after him.