For over 40 years, she has studied the ring-tailed and white sifaka lemurs in Madagascar, primarily at the Berenty Reserve, a small private reserve located in the desert area of the island nation.  She has authored countless articles on lemur behavior, as well as books including Lucy’s Legacy, a sociobiological explanation of evolution, and Lords and Lemurs.  She has taught at such diverse institutions as the University of Zambia; Cornell, Princeton and Yale in the United States; and Cambridge University in England. 

She has served as the president of the International Primatological Society and was named an Officer of the National Order of Madagascar.  She has received multiple other awards for her research and conservation efforts, but perhaps her most meaningful distinction came in 2006 when a new species of mouse lemur (Microcebus jollyae) was named in her honor. Currently, Alison is teaching at Sussex University in the United Kingdom.