Jane Goodall Dies

Renowned animal behaviorist and advocate Jane Goodall passed away on October 1,  of natural causes at age 91 while in California on a speaking tour.

Goodall, worked as a primatologist for most of her life, dedicated her existence to helping the world understand animal’s behaviors and emotions. She first traveled to East Africa in 1957 and later in 1960, arrived at Tanzania’s Gombe Chimpanzee Reserve where she started her revolutionary work with chimpanzees.  

“Jane Goodall was the first to prove that an investigating scientist and a great ape living in the wild could become true friends and in doing so she came to transform our understanding of chimpanzees,” Sir David Attenborough said. 

When Jane Goodall first arrived in Kenya, she was employed by paleontologist Dr. Louis Leakey working as a secretary at the National Museum in Nairobi. After working with him for 3 years, he and his wife, Mary Leakey, requested Goodall to travel with them to the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve to study wild chimpanzees. When she arrived, the chimps first ran away from her, but after time, she formed a connection with them. 

The first one to truly interact with her was an older chimpanzee named David Graybeard. After time following him throughout the forest Goodall offered him a nut. He accepted it and squeezed her finger, a way that chimps reassure each other. Her method was questioned by many other scientists, but she stuck with it, and it led to a deeper understanding of their behaviors. Goodall gave the chimps names, learned their feelings, and interacted directly with them, which was something not many other people were doing at the time. 

In addition to her work with the chimpanzees, she also changed how the world sees the environment. 

“She cared about conversation, so a big part of her impact in something like chemistry is how we dispose of things. Now we take much more consideration of how this impacts the environment. Is this going to matter if I just pour this down the drain or throw it in the trash?” NHS Chemistry teacher Alex Pitetti said. “For a long time we looked at things through the lens of how it affects humans, and thanks to the work of people like her we started looking at how this affects the ecosystem.” 

Goodall also empowered women and was an inspiration to women around the world. Her work proved that women can not only keep up, but excel in previously male-dominated fields. 

“If somebody were to ask me who is the first person that comes to mind when you’re talking about working with animals or environmental causes I would think Jane Goodall, which I think is kind of amazing because most times you’re thinking of a man in something like STEM,” NHS Women Studies teacher Kristen English said. 

Goodall has inspired young people all over the world and in 1991 she started an environmental and humanitarian program called Roots & Shoots. It started with just a few high school students but it is now an ongoing program with members in almost 100 countries. Goodall wanted to create an opportunity for young people to become involved in action to create change for the environment and animals. 

“I know she was 91, it shouldn’t have been a surprise, but I felt very sad when she died because I just felt like when I thought about the women who I, as a child looked up to were Jane Goodall, Sally Ride, these women that changed the course of their fields and the world,” English said. 

Jane Goodall was born on April 3, 1934 in London, England and her interest in animals began from a young age. When she was four years old her mother took her to a farm where she became fascinated with nature and animal behavior. Goodall gave credit to her mother throughout her whole life for helping expand her love and passion for animals and the science world. 

“A different kind of mother might have crushed that scientific curiosity – and I might not have done what I have done,” Goodall said in 2018 during an interview.