Early in her career researching dolphin intelligence Diana Reiss began wondering, "Who is training who?"
Diana Reiss, a cognitive psychologist and a marine mammal scientist, is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Dr. Reiss's research focuses on dolphin cognition, communication, comparative animal cognition, and the evolution of intelligence. Much of her work has investigated vocal communication and vocal learning in dolphins using observational and experimental approaches. She pioneered the use of underwater keyboards with dolphins to investigate their cognitive and communicative abilities. Dr. Reiss and her colleagues also demonstrated that bottlenose dolphins and an Asian elephants possess the rare ability for mirror self-recognition previously thought to be restricted to humans and great apes. Her advocacy work in conservation and animal welfare includes the protection of dolphins in the tuna-fishing industry and her current efforts to bring an end to the killing of dolphins in the drive hunts in Japan. Dr. Reiss's work has been featured in hundreds of articles in international and national journals, science magazines, television segments and features, and newspaper articles. Her book, The Dolphin in the Mirror: exploring dolphin minds and saving dolphin lives was published in 2011.
This story originally aired on July 24, 2015.
A chance meeting with a stranger on an airplane has a huge impact on Melanie Knight's life.
When The Colbert Report calls about her research, marine biologist Skylar Bayer finds an unexpected collaborator and friend in the fisherman helping her get scallops.
As an undergrad, Beryl Kahn takes a semester at sea after a bad breakup and gets rocked by the swells of the sea -- and her emotions.
Just before she leaves for her dream opportunity to teach marine science on the Red Sea, Latasha Wright gets a call that puts her plans in jeopardy.
Marine biologist Shayle Matsuda adapts to his new identity as a transgender man while on assignment in the Philippines.
Marine biologist Jessica Hoey tries to keep her daughter’s belief in mermaids alive.
Marine ecologist Kirsten Grorud-Colvert bonds with her diving buddy when they have an unexpected encounter with a hammerhead shark.
As a grad student, Liz Neeley falls in love with the order of science, but when she heads into the field, she’s forced to confront messy reality.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, naturalist Helen Cheng leaves the comfort of the city to venture out into the field.
Skylar Bayer's dreams of a career in scientific scuba diving are put in jeopardy when her heart begins acting strangely.