All Episodes

January 1, 2025 27 mins

In this special episode of Animals & Us - Voices of a New Paradigm, Avantika shares a significant life change—her move to Belgium to pursue her PhD. This marks the beginning of a new academic chapter, one that aligns closely with her personal aspirations and her grandfather’s legacy. Avantika reflects on the excitement and challenges of this new adventure and the personal significance of this step in her journey.

Her upcoming research will be with the ANICOM project—a groundbreaking study on intuitive interspecies communication (IIC), funded by the European Research Council. The project, led by Prof. Vanessa Wijngaarden at the University of Liège (Belgium) explores the practices of animal communicators and how they engage in two-way communication with animals. With a multidisciplinary team and fieldwork across 8 countries, the ANICOM project aims to develop new methods for engaging with non-human animals as full research participants. Avantika discusses her involvement with this project and how it will contribute to the development of "dialogic multispecies methods," combining insights from animal cognition, Indigenous knowledge, biosemiotics, and new materialism.

Join Barbara and Avantika as they talk about the intersection of personal growth, academic pursuit, and professional passion. This episode is about honouring the past, embracing the future, and forging a path toward a more inclusive and interconnected world where humans and animals communicate on equal terms.

Listen now to hear more about Avantika’s exciting new chapter in Belgium and her commitment to advancing research on animal communication through the ANICOM project.

Click HERE for more information about the ANICOM project.

Avantika will also be sharing snippets of her journey during this process on her Instagram account. 

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.