Jenny Animal Linguist is a promising scholar in the emerging field of Animal Linguistics. Follow her progress on Twitter, @AnimalLinguist, and support her work – which she herself characterizes in these terms:

“It is my goal to bring Animal Communication to the fore as a distinct field of research, and especially within Linguistics – so far, a very ‘human’ subject.  In so doing, I am hoping to achieve better animal rights, and the chance – one day – to ‘talk’ to other animals. It would be incredibly exciting to know if birds might be singing laments about the morning queues for the seed tray, or if dogs were checking their ‘Sniffbook’ updates at the nearest lamppost, or if cows were sounding out their enjoyment of their children frolicking in the fields.  Not to mention how much of a relief it would be when people eventually question, for instance, the merits of intensive farming, testing cosmetics, or the right to hunt for sport once we know that animals really do think, feel, and communicate like us humans. For more detail on my studies, as well as some cute cartoons, please view my initial crowdfunding project: https://hubbub.net/p/TheDrDolittleChallenge“