Sonja is a global expert in the study of the genetics of vocal communication in mammals as a way to understand the evolution and biological basis of human speech and language. This will have huge benefits for people with severe speech disorders.
She leads the Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Research Group at St Andrews University. She has been recognised with a prestigious Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists for her ground-breaking investigations into the evolutionary and biological bases of speech and language, using bats as a model.
The capacity of humans to communicate using speech and language has captivated scholars for centuries. However, the uniqueness and complexity of human language can make it difficult to study, especially at the biological level. Luckily, humans share certain features of communication with other mammals.
By studying vocal learning in bats, she is providing new insight into how genes and neural circuits affect vocal communication in mammals and speech in humans, how these traits evolved, and the connection between specific genes and severe speech disorders in humans.
Sonja is also a founding director of Bat1K, a global research consortium which aims to collect genomic data for all living bat species.