Who’s Jane Goodall?

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Jane Goodall is a noted British primatologist who is often credited with her major efforts in chimpanzee research and protection. Her pioneering work with chimpanzees in Tanzania has unearthed a wealth of intriguing information about chimpanzee society, culture, habits and lifestyles, earning her numerous academic, scientific and international accolades. In 2003, Jane Goodall was made a Dame of the British Empire, the female equivalent of a knighthood, by Queen Elizabeth II.

Goodall was born in 1934 and didn’t have much interest in animals in her early years. By the 1950s, that had changed, and she found herself working in Kenya alongside Louis Leaky, an anthropologist who has been credited with discovering the earliest known hominin remains. In 1964, Jane Goodall became Dr. Jane Goodall, with a degree from Cambridge, and she returned to Africa to study chimpanzees.

In Tanzania, Goodall undertook an ambitious research product to follow chimpanzees over an extended period of time, learning far more than researchers who had previously observed groups of primates for only short periods. He called his research subjects he and gradually became very familiar with them. Goodall noted that chimps made and used tools, used a variety of physical gestures to express affection and communicate, and waged war, just like humans. By humanizing chimpanzees, he has raised a number of questions about primate evolution and the dividing line between people and animals.

Some critics argue that Dr. Goodall became too intimate with her subjects, failing to maintain a proper scientific distance. Others argue that her work would not have been possible without a deep affection for her subjects. Goodall has certainly established herself as a courageous researcher, lingering in Tanzania even after other primate researchers have been kidnapped and threatened, or even murdered, in the case of Dian Fossey.

In 1977, Dr. Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute, an organization that promotes chimpanzee protection alongside research into chimpanzee culture. She is a well-known animal rights advocate, speaking out on the use of chimpanzees in research and entertainment, and has also championed conservation programs that raise orphaned chimpanzees and create nature reserves that allow the animals to live in peace.

Jane Goodall’s work has been featured in numerous books and scientific journals and she has traveled the world as a visiting professor and speaker advancing the cause of chimpanzee conservation. As part of her conservation work with chimpanzees, she has also advocated for a number of environmental protection issues, especially in the tropics.

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