PULLMAN, Wash. – Irene Pepperberg, an international expert in animal cognition and communication, will present the 2018 Robert Jonas Lecture in Biological Sciences on Tuesday, March 27, at Washington State University.

Her free, public address, “Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots,” begins at 6 p.m. in Todd Hall, room 230.

Pepperberg is a research associate and lecturer at Harvard University and is widely known for her study of language learning by animals other than humans, said Jesse Bruner, associate professor at WSU School of Biological Sciences and advisor for the WSU Zoology Club, which is sponsoring the event.

With her talking parrot “Alex,” Pepperberg is said to have revolutionized modern science’s understanding of animal communication and intelligence.

President of the Alex Foundation, she will describe her research into animal cognition and communication and the numerical abilities of birds. She will also present her recent findings comparing the intelligence of birds with that of human children.

The 2018 Jonas lecture is also sponsored by the WSU School of Biological Sciences and College of Arts & Sciences.

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