Jane Goodall: Primatologist, Conservationist, Humanitarian

This post is an installment in our "Meet a Scientist" Series

Imagine a sharp woman with her light hair pulled back into her classic low ponytail. Her smile is calm. Her eyes are serene, but alert. She can often be seen hiding in a thicket of trees, dressed in khakis. Most of the time, she is comfortably interacting with a chimpanzee.

By now, you may have recognized that this woman as Jane Goodall: renowned primatologist, conservationist and humanitarian.

Jane Goodall. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of State/Public domain.

Jane Goodall. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of State/Public domain.

Images of Goodall, along with her story, have graced magazines, books, movies and other media for decades and show no sign of slowing down. That is because Goodall herself never slowed down. In the past 60 years, Jane transformed from a young girl growing up in London with big dreams to one of the world’s leaders in environmental conservation. In the late 1950s, when she first traveled to Africa, no one could have anticipated how much Jane would impact the world but looking at her life, it makes sense. She began with dreams of traveling to Africa to study animals at a time when such dreams were not considered normal for young woman. She inspired a generation of women in the field, including Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas. These three women, all trained by paleontologist Louis Leakey, are famously known as the “Trimates.”

Now, decades later, Jane Goodall is not only a historic icon for women in STEM but an active champion for wildlife, the environment and humanity.

It All Started with Jubilee

Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born on April 3, 1934 in London, England. She was daughter to the businessman, Mortimer Herbert Morris-Goodall, and novelist, Margaret Myfanwe Joseph (she wrote under the name Vanne Morris-Goodall). Jane had one younger sister, Judy. Jane’s father was an engineer in the army during World War II and absent from periods of her life. After the war, her parents divorced and Jane continued to live with her mother.

Tarzan of the Apes. Photo is public domain.

Tarzan of the Apes. Photo is public domain.

From a young age, Jane loved animals. When she was a toddler, she was given a toy chimpanzee that her father affectionately named Jubilee. She grew up loving Dr. Dolittle and became engrossed in the world of Tarzan, hoping to travel to Africa herself one day. She once even scared her parents when she disappeared for hours, only to be found hiding in the henhouse where she was patiently waiting for chickens to lay eggs. Little did her parents realize how this all foreshadowed their daughter’s future.

Considering the climate of the mid-1900s, many at the time would not have imagined Jane’s childhood aspirations a feasible dream. However, Jane’s mother always encouraged and supported her interests and passions. She raised Jane to believe that she could achieve her dreams of studying wildlife in Africa if she worked hard enough. Jane’s mother’s supported her throughout her life and even joined Jane as she embarked on her second journey to Africa.

After grade school, Jane began working as a secretary at Oxford University while maintaining a second position with a documentary film company in London. Unfortunately, Jane’s family could not afford to send her to college (although one could argue this ended up becoming a blessing in disguise). In 1956, Jane’s schoolmate, aware of Jane’s love of Africa and animals, invited Goodall to her parents’ farm in Kenya. Jane, of course, jumped at the opportunity. She quit her job, moved back to her family home, now in Bournemouth, and worked all summer as a waitress to save money for her trip. In 1957, Jane Goodall embarked on the trip that would make her childhood dreams come true.

Goodall and the Chimpanzees

Goodall’s first trip landed her at Kenya Castle in Mombasa, Kenya in April 1957. There she met the famous Dr. Louis Leakey, an archaeologist and paleontologist who believed human’s originated in Africa, a controversial theory at the time. Impressed with her passion and enthusiasm, he initially offered her a job as his secretary. However, during that period, Leakey was looking for someone who could study chimpanzees and their connection to human evolution. Secretly, he wondered if Jane could be a candidate. As she worked for him, she impressed him with how she was critical, observant and patient. She also proved to have a good, natural instinct when working in the wild. Furthermore, he believed Jane could bring a fresh perspective, given that she did not come from an academic background.

Lake Tanganyika at Gombe. Photo courtesy of fabulousfabs/Creative Commons.

Lake Tanganyika at Gombe. Photo courtesy of fabulousfabs/Creative Commons.

Under the guidance of Leakey in 1960, Jane set off on her second trip, this time to the Gombe Forest in Tanzania to study chimpanzees in their natural habitat. Since the British authorities did not approve of a young woman living by herself in the depths of the African wild, Jane’s mother join her for the first few months. It was only fitting that her mother, who supported Goodall’s passion from a young age, would join her daughter as her chaperone.

Jane initially struggled to get close to the chimpanzees but within a year, managed to be within 30 feet of their feeding areas. From the beginning, she employed unconventional methods. For instance, academics traditionally numbered the chimpanzees they observed. Jane, on the other hand, gave each chimp an unique name: David Greybeard, Flow, Freud and Frodo are a few of the most well-known. In her first year, Goodall recognized that these animals had complex personalities and emotions. They made long-lasting family relationships. They exhibited warfare. They were more similar to humans than previously thought. She also dispelled the belief that chimpanzees were primarily vegetarians. She observed them hunt and eat other animals. After two years of daily field work, the chimpanzees were no longer frightened of her. She mimicked their behavior, spent time in their habitat and even ate their food. She would coaxed them to come closer with bananas.

Museum exhibit of chimp at a termite mound. Photo courtesy of Daderot/Public Domain.

Museum exhibit of chimp at a termite mound. Photo courtesy of Daderot/Public Domain.

Goodall’s research in those first years were groundbreaking. One of her observations even redefined humankind. One day, within her first year, Jane observed David Greybeard, a chimpanzee she was following, strip leaves off a twig. Watching him longer, she realized he had fashioned himself a tool to access termites out of a mound. She observed other chimpanzees doing the same act. This was at a time when Man was defined by the ability to make and use tools. When she reported her findings to Leakey, he was ecstatic. He famously exclaimed, “Now we must redefine tool, redefine Man, or accept chimpanzees as human.” The finding was revolutionary.

Despite her monumental scientific accomplishments, Jane still did not have a college degree. In 1965, she enrolled in Cambridge University as a PhD candidate with the help of Leakey, who convinced the school of her merit. She was one of the few people to ever attend without an undergraduate degree. While there, she conducted her thesis research under the guidance of Dr. Robert Hinde, who also would mentor Dian Fossey a few years later. Unfortunately, Hinde and other colleagues were not impressed with Jane’s unconventional methods. She baffled her mentors and peers by giving the chimpanzees names and talking about their personalities. Although it is now accepted that apes display a range of emotion, Hinde and other prominent scientists at the time thought Goodall was committing a sin of ascribing human features to animals.

In the 1960s, she published My Friends, the Wild Chimpanzees. Though popular with the public, academics continued to criticize  her for anthropomorphizing chimpanzees. They argued was that Goodall lost the objectivity necessary for rigorous research. Luckily as the years passed, some of her mentors began to accept and approve of her methods. Still, Jane struggled as a female scientist; she was often made fun off and mocked due to her gender and  appearance. Regardless, she persevered and in 1966 completed her PhD in Ethology.

Meanwhile, back in Gombe, Goodall established the Gombe Stream Research Center with her then husband, Hugo van Lawick, in 1965. The center aimed to continue field research on primates and train new, young researchers. This period of time was also marked by the release of Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees, the first documentary showcasing her field work and introducing the world to chimpanzees through Jane’s eyes. This film was captured by Jane’s first husband.

Jane, the Mother and Wife

During the time she spent becoming an acclaimed primatologist and scientist, Jane also became a wife and mother. She met her first husband, Hugo van Lawick, a Dutch wildlife photographer and filmmaker, when he arrived in Gombe to film her and the chimpanzees. Jane would joke that Louis Leakey played match maker because he specifically chose Hugo to be her photographer. The couple married in 1964. In 1967, their son Hugo, affectionately nicknamed Grub, was born. Although never alone, baby Grub was often placed in a large cage for safety. Once he was mobile, he was often found on the beach with a guardian. A few years later, 1974, Jane and Hugo divorced. Jane then met and married Derek Bryceson, a member of the Tanzanian Parliament and director of the Tanzania National Park in 1975. They were together until he sadly died in 1980 from cancer.

Setting the “Roots” for a New Generation

Jane founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 to support research in Gombe and increase conservation efforts. However, it wasn’t until the 1980s that Jane became a full-time environment activist. In 1986, while at a conference in Chicago, Jane saw a consistent theme of disappearing forests and wildlife. Working on the ground in the wild, she had seen some of this first hand, but the conference opened her eyes to the scale and extent of the problem. She saw that humans play a vital role in animal and environmental conservation and furthermore, that conservation efforts would benefit both species.

As Goodall began traveling the world, she advocated for adults and children to join conservation efforts. Knowing the power and importance of the youth, she wanted to help young people grow up with the right resources to be educated conservation leaders. This led to the beginning of Roots & Shoots. Established in 1991, the organization—which still runs today—works with young people in 100 different countries to promote respect and understanding of all living things and cultures to improve the world for all. She also writes and contributes to children’s books in hopes of educating and inspiring children.

Jane Today

Jane Goodall at a TED Talk. Photo courtesy of Erik (HASH) Hersman/Creative Commons.

Jane Goodall at a TED Talk. Photo courtesy of Erik (HASH) Hersman/Creative Commons.

After 60 years of research, conservation and humanitarian efforts, Jane shows no signs of slowing down. She continues to travel the world, spreading her message of conservation and providing support for future generations. In 2002, she was named the United Nations of Peace, two years later she was named Dame Commander of the British Empire, and bestowed with the Legion of Honor (France’s highest honor) in 2006 and all that is just the tip of the iceberg. She has countless other honors and many honorary degrees from universities around the world. She and her team continue to publish academic articles, have been the topic of many articles for academia and the general public along and produce many books for both adults and children. Beyond that, Jane, the chimpanzees and her conservation efforts are detailed in many film and documentary projects, including a recent one released recently by National Geographic.

Goodall, now 84 years young, travels around the world almost 300 days a year, holding seminars and lectures to variety of audiences. Her message stands firm. She continues to advocate the need for conservation, promoting the importance of everyone’s role in conservation and why it is imperative for both the environment, wildlife and humanity.

Despite her shift to conservation, Jane Goodall still holds chimpanzees close to her heart. She even still has her toy Jubilee. He lives at her home in England.

 

 

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