Gagliano is a Research Associate Professor in the field of evolutionary ecology at Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia, where she directs the Biological Intelligence lab.

[8] As a postdoctoral fellow at James Cook University in 2008, she was researching Ambon damselfish (Pomacentrus amboinensis) at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

The fish were used to her presence and would swim in and out of her hand daily, but on the last morning, when she visited them to say goodbye, they refused to come out of their crevices and greet her, as if they knew what she intended.

Gagliano's study showed that Mimosa plants no longer folded their leaves after being dropped in the same way repeatedly.

Their suggestions include using language that respects sentience in animals; emphasizing aspects of experience that are important to the animal being studied (such as the importance of smell to dogs); and incorporating unconventional sources of knowledge, such as Indigenous knowing and personal relationships with the beings under study.

[28] Novelist Richard Powers, author of The Overstory, and Monica Gagliano participated in a conversation on “Plant Intelligence” at the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth College in 2020.

[4] Indigenous botanist and professor Robin Wall Kimmerer and Monica Gagliano were interviewed on the Bioneers podcast.