The year 2026 so far has had some pretty wild twists and turns, as those of you who have been reading regularly know. For example, there was that week in Dubai during the outbreak of the Iran war. But some pretty cool positive things have also transpired. I won two lifetime achievement awards: one from the Coller-Dolittle Foundation, the other from Division 3 (Experimental Psychology) of the American Psychological Association (APA). I was also elected to serve a three-year term as Member-At-Large for APA’s Div. 3.

My whole point in writing this essay, however, is not to bring attention to myself, but rather to make it extremely clear that such awards should not center on the person named but rather needs to include kudos to the army of individuals—human and nonhuman—who worked along side this person. Without them, nothing would have been possible! In my case, there are almost 50 years of parrots and people to thank. It would take another book…but I’ll summarize briefly… unfortunately leaving out dozens and dozens of names…for which I humbly apologize. But you all were an integral part of what kept the lab going! So….

Building a Lab With Alex

Alex and I started working together in June, 1977—almost 50 years ago. We started in borrowed laboratory space (thank you, Peter Waser) at Purdue University, with volunteers and a small number of work-study undergraduate students (particular thanks to Robert Mitchell and Kimberly Goodrich Fisher) as trainers and testers, and no real funding—my first grant came back with the reviewers literally asking what I was smoking! We persevered. (Thanks to Struther Arnott, dept head at the time).

Our modeling technique, based on the studies of Dietmar Todt (another thank you!), worked well, and Alex began to label several materials—paper, wood, hide—and objects such as keys and clothespins (pegwood). He began to label colors—red (rose), blue, green—and shapes—triangles (3-corner) and squares (4-corner). The data convinced reviewers (I still don’t know who was on that panel, but a big thanks!) that maybe we were doing something interesting, and we got a small, one year grant from the National Science Foundation. It seemed that we were off to a terrific start, but those of you who have read Alex & Me know that our lives were more like the old-fashioned cliff-hanger “Perils of Pauline”, with huge ups and downs. For example, my then-husband did not get tenure at Purdue, and so we had to move.

New Labs, New Parrots, New Discoveries

We were next at Northwestern University’s Department of Anthropology, where I became a visiting assistant professor (thanks to Donald Sade) for several years. Another wonderful crew of students (far too many to list—sorry—you know who you are!…but special kudos to Denise Neapolitan)…and, then, when Alex needed treatment for aspergillosis, amazing veterinarians (Susan Brown, Richard Nye, Scott McDonald, Bob Ness—and Greg Harrison for the micro-surgery) who saved his life. Colleagues and friends there included Linda Schinke-Llano in the Linguistics Department…

And when that situation was no longer viable, we moved to the University of Arizona (thank you Conrad Istock; Steve and Ruth Russell)…with another group of amazing undergrads (particularly Denice Warren, Mary McLaughlin) and graduate students (Pamela Banta Lavenex, Diane Patterson, Diana May, Spencer Lynn). We briefly added Kyaaro and Alo as research subjects, and then Griffin…The department there was not the best fit for someone doing research on avian cognition, and eventually we left for the Media Lab at MIT (with Spencer Lynn coming along, adding Ben Resner and the parrot Arthur [aka Wart]) and Brandeis University…with still more wonderful undergraduate students working with our birds…and lab managers, particularly Arlene Levin Rowe and then Suzanne Gray, who held things together as I commuted daily between Cambridge and Waltham…with special thanks to all at the Radcliffe Institute, where I spent a magical year being supported academically and financially. Of course, that situation also did not last….

We then landed at Harvard’s Department of Psychology (thanks to Ken Nakayama and Patrick Cavanagh in the Vision Lab). Alex died in 2007 and Arthur passed away just before we left Brandeis; and while at Harvard we added a new, female Grey, Athena. We began collaborations with the Vision Lab and with Susan Carey, with Suzanne Gray still at the helm. We added research assistants like Francesca Cornero and Gabriella Smith, Katherine Clements, and many, many others…some of whom continue to be close colleagues and friends. After COVID raised its ugly head, we spent 18 months at the home of one of my RAs, Diana Greene (again, big thanks!)….

We are now associated with Boston University (thank you David Somers, Ben Scott and now Chantal Stern) and the lab is in an apartment in Somerville…with, again, a group of incredibly dedicated research assistants (shout-out to Alana Carroll) and lab managers. (And thank you to our building owners and managers, who were willing to rent to us and do their best to make sure that all is well.)

And, of course, there is the unbelievably long list of friends, family, and donors who, over almost 50 years, not only provided emotional and financial support, but who completely understood when I failed to attend all the important milestones in their lives and all the big and even small holiday celebrations because I had to lecture somewhere in the world or had a deadline that couldn’t be missed….

So, yes, these awards carry my name, but only because of all of you, named and unnamed here, who made it all possible. I wish there were some way of reaching out directly, to say “THANK YOU” individually to each and every one of you…but please know that you are all remembered and appreciated…