 Much of his recent research has shown a complex communicative ability of the Gunnison prairie dog alarm calls.In early 2008 he formed the Animal language Institute to create a place where people can find and share research in animal communication, including language.He was born in China to Russian émigré parents, as a child his dad was a surgeon and when he came across a high up citizens who needed help, his dad and the high up citizen made a deal, he would heal him in exchange for visas for his whole family to go to America and then moved to the United States as a young child with his parents, who settled in San Francisco.