Scientists' Biographies
Great Ape Trust has assembled a team of world-class scientists and visiting scientists who pioneering new frontiers in language and other cognitive research with bonobos.
Mr. William M Fields
An ethnographer, Mr. Fields is one of only two scientists in the world studying the acquisition of language and culture with bonobos. He joined Great Ape Trust in August 2005 after having worked with its bonobo colony at the Language Research Center (LRC) at Georgia State University, where he co-reared the baby bonobo Nyota with Panbanisha, Kanzi and Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh.
Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
The first and only scientist doing language research with bonobos. Dr. Savage-Rumbaugh joined Great Ape Trust staff following a 23-year association with Georgia State University's Language Research Center. There, Dr. Savage-Rumbaugh and others conducted extensive research toward understanding the behavior and mental abilities of primates.
Dr. Duane Rumbaugh
A pioneer in comparative psychology and the study of primate learning, intelligence, and language, Duane M. Rumbaugh, has joined Great Ape Trust to coordinate academic and community relations.
Dr. Karyl Swartz
Dr. Karyl Swartz, an expert in the field of primate memory and learning, joined Great Ape Trust as a scientist in the fall of 2004.
Dr. Ken Schweller
Dr. Schweller designs software and hardware to facilitate communication between humans and bonobos and to support research on ape memory, learning and cognition.
Ms. Janni Pedersen
Conducting research at the intersection of philosophy, anthropology, and evolutionary biology, Janni Pedersen became affiliated with the Great Ape Trust in 2006. She came to Iowa to study for her PhD degree at Iowa State University and to conduct her graduate research with the bonobos at the Great Ape Trust.
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