Jane Goodall Ph.D., DBE
Founder - the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of
Peace
Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, one of the world's most famous scientists,
is known for her landmark study of chimpanzees in Gombe National
Park, Tanzania. In 1977, Dr. Goodall established the Jane
Goodall Institute (JGI), which supports the Gombe research,
is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and
their habitats, has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2002
and was invested as a Dame of the British Empire by Prince
Charles in 2004. Jane is a highly accomplished public speaker
delivering fascinating addresses on humanitarian, socio-ecological,
conservation and developing world issues. Jane is the author
of an extensive number of books and has been featured in many
popular television documentaries.
Summary Biography
Jane Goodall began her landmark study of chimpanzees in
Tanzania in June 1960, under the mentorship of anthropologist
and paleontologist Dr. Louis Leakey. Her work at the Gombe
Stream Chimpanzee Reserve would become the foundation of future
primatological research and redefine the relationship between
humans and animals.
One of Jane's most significant discoveries came in her first
year at Gombe, when she saw chimps stripping leaves off stems
to make the stems useful for fishing termites out of nearby
mounds. This and subsequent observations of Gombe chimps making
and using tools would force science to rethink the definition
that separated man from other animals: "man the toolmaker."
Jane also observed chimps hunting and eating bushpigs and
other animals, disproving the widely held belief that chimpanzees
were primarily vegetarians.
Dr. Goodall defied scientific convention by giving the chimpanzees
names instead of numbers, and insisted on the validity of
her observations that the chimps had distinct personalities,
minds and emotions. She wrote of lasting chimpanzee family
bonds. Through the years her work yielded surprising insights
such as the discovery that chimpanzees engage in warfare.
Dr. Goodall established the Gombe Stream Research Center
in 1964. Under the stewardship of Tanzanian field staff and
other researchers, it continues Dr. Goodall's work today,
making it one of the longest uninterrupted wildlife studies
in existence.
In 1977, Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute
(JGI), which supports the Gombe work and other research, education
and conservation and development programs. These include community-centered
conservation efforts in Africa that empower villagers to build
sustainable livelihoods while promoting regional conservation
goals such as reforestation and an end to the illegal commercial
bushmeat trade. JGI's Roots & Shoots program, which supports
students from preschool through university in projects that
benefit people, animals and the environment, today hosts about
6,000 worldwide groups in more than 87 countries.
Dr. Goodall travels an average 300 days per year, speaking
about the threats facing chimpanzees, other environmental
crises, and her reasons for hope that humankind will solve
the problems it has imposed on the earth. She continually
urges her audiences to recognize their personal responsibility
and ability to effect change through consumer action, lifestyle
change and activism.
Dr. Goodall's scores of honors include the Medal of Tanzania,
the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal, Japan's prestigious
Kyoto Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and
Scientific Research 2003, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life
Science, and the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence. In April
2002 Secretary-General Annan appointed Dr. Goodall to serve
as a United Nations "Messenger of Peace." In 2004,
at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, Prince Charles invested
Dr. Goodall a Dame of the British Empire, the female equivalent
of knighthood.
Her list of publications is extensive, including two overviews
of her work at Gombe - In the Shadow of Man and Through a
Window - as well as two autobiographies in letters, the best-selling
autobiography Reason for Hope and many children's books. The
Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior, is recognized
as the definitive work on chimpanzees and is the culmination
of Jane Goodall's scientific career. Dr. Goodall has been
the subject of numerous television documentaries and is featured
in the large-screen format film, Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees
(2002). In 2004, she was featured in two Discovery Channel
Animal Planet specials-Return to Gombe and The State of the
Great Ape.
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