Irene Pepperberg

The accomplishments of Irene Pepperberg, a professor at the University of Arizona, currently a visiting fellow at the MIT media lab in Boston, MA, in the understanding of the cognitive fundamentals of language and communication are widely hailed as extrordinairy. Her work with the African Grey Parrot Alex, and his large vocabulary and usage; often described as like that of two year old child, some would argue shows that humans do not hold the monopoly on the complex or semicomplex use of abstract communication. Alex has shown that he can differentiate meaning and syntax; unlike the believed simpler communications of other animals (fear, calls for help, danger, etc).

She is also active in wildlife conservation, especially that concerned with parrots. She is currently studing the differences in aviary and mammiallian brain function.