Tim O'neill asked Jonathan C. Slaght:

I 1st went to Madagascar for ecology, got distracted by language, & then ended up going back to pursue my PhD by writing a grammar of a language there. On my last 2 trips there, I didn't even see a single lemur! You discuss some interesting linguistic issues here or there in Owls of the Eastern Ice—were you ever in danger of switching tracks as well? Were there any other linguistic anecdotes that didn't make the cut?

Jonathan C. Slaght Hi Tim, thanks for this interesting question. My first interests in Russia were in fact linguistic. I grew up in a diplomat's family, so every 2-4 years I found myself in a new country learning a new language. My introduction to Russia was part of one these moves, but I did not become enamored with the place until I visited the Russian Far East and saw that, with my combined interests in language and wildlife, I could make a niche for myself there. So for me, Russian language skills and interest in wildlife were always intertwined.

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