Con Slobodchikoff

Con Slobodchikoff is a man who’s made a career out of cracking the code on how animals communicate, as Professor Emeritus of Biology at Northern Arizona University and president of Animal Communications Ltd. Con earned his B.S. and Ph.D. at UC Berkeley, where he mastered the art of understanding creatures big and small.

He’s even gone international, serving as a visiting professor at Kenyatta University in Kenya, where he studied the behavior of hyraxes (think of them as distant cousins to elephants—only much smaller). Along the way, he picked up a Fulbright Fellowship, just for good measure.

For over 25 years, Con has focused on prairie dogs, studying their chatter and figuring out that these little critters have their own sophisticated language system. He’s also the director of the Animal Language Institute, spreading the word (or bark, or chirp) about animal communication around the globe.

Con has written or edited five books and over 100 scientific articles, but his most popular works are Chasing Doctor Dolittle: Learning the Language of Animals (2012), in which he shows that understanding animals might be closer to reality than we think; How to Talk to Your Dog (2024), in which he reveals the secrets of dog communication; and Zephyr’s Tale (2024), in which he talks about life with a poodle.

Con's view of the world is expressed in his motto: "Blending science with empathy for all living beings."