Conservation and Biodiversity
Jane Goodall: An Extraordinary Life of Research and Activism
October 30, 2025
Opinion
Dr. Jane Goodall lived nothing short of an extraordinary life. From expeditions in Africa to global speaking tours, Goodall fought tirelessly for the planet she loved and her work inspired millions of adults and children around the globe to compassionately advocate for environmental justice, human rights, and animal rights.
For myself, Goodall was a sage, a beacon of hope, and my biggest inspiration. Her wisdom and her compassion touched my heart and the hearts of many others, inspiring me to study and appreciate the world around me. While she will be dearly missed by the world, let us take a moment to celebrate the extraordinary life of Dr. Jane Goodall.
How It All Began
Since infancy, Jane Goodall expressed a love of animals and nature. She accredited her pet dog, Rusty, as one of her greatest teachers, who taught her that animals have emotions, personalities, and feelings.
You cannot share your life with a dog and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities, minds and feelings.
Dr. Jane Goodall
This idea that animals have emotions has since been reaffirmed by researchers in multiple scientific fields, including biology, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy. However, this belief was not widely held by scientists until Goodall’s landmark research on chimpanzees.
Her lifelong dream of venturing to Africa came to fruition when Goodall started work as a secretary and assistant to acclaimed archaeologist Dr. Louis Leakey in 1956 at the age of 23 in Tanzania. In 1960, Goodall took on a research role for Dr. Leakey on Lake Tanganyika to study a troop of wild chimpanzees. It was here that she began to make an incredible discovery.
A New Approach
In her studies of chimpanzees, Jane Goodall took an unorthodox approach. Rather than assigning her test subjects numbers, she gave them names — a practice that was seen as unscientific at the time for “lack of objectivity”. But in practice, Goodall began to understand that just like their individual names, these animals had their own individual personalities.
By practicing empathy in her scientific studies and observations of chimpanzees, Goodall was able to grow closer to the community she studied, like no scientist had ever before. Goodall’s groundbreaking discoveries in animal behaviour came from her devotion to observation, allowing her to authentically assess that chimpanzees had emotions and were much more similar to humans than previously thought, sharing 98.8% of their DNA with us.
Goodall brought her research into the public domain by writing for National Geographic, where her captivating stories and vivid writing invited readers, not just other zoologists, into her world. It profoundly changed the hearts of millions through fact based and beautiful storytelling.
If one wants to change attitudes, you have to reach the heart. You can reach the heart by telling stories, not by arguing with people’s intellects.
Dr. Jane Goodall
Goodall worked with chimpanzees in the Gombe of Tanzania for nearly 30 years, observing several generations of troops, before focusing on activism.
Female Empowerment
In a male dominant field, Jane Goodall opened the door for female scientists and researchers and became a trailblazer for women in STEM. Her influence spread far and wide. Women primatologists such as Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas came to the field of primate behavioral research following Goodall’s discoveries.
It was after reading her books that I put on my boots and binoculars and went out in the jungle.
Catherine Crockford, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Throughout her life Goodall believed women needed to be invited in the tent of education, reciprocating the idea that environmental justice was integrally linked with humanitarianism. For this reason, the Jane Goodall Institute, established in 1977, provides scholarships for women’s education and supports access to family planning, health care, and clean water for young women in need.
Relentless Activism
The least I can do is to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Dr. Jane Goodall
The Jane Goodall Institute, a global nonprofit global research and conservation organization, has 25 offices stationed around the world.
One of Goodall’s most passionate beliefs was the importance of educating young people and in 1991, the Institute added the Roots and Shoots program, teaching youths about conservation in 75 countries and counting. Empowering the next generation was a core belief of Goodall’s, inspiring her to reach young audiences through in-person and online events. She even taught an online Masterclass on conservation.
Through her relentless activism, Goodall obtained many environmental accomplishments. Goodall spoke out on the cruelty of animal testing, leading to the retirement of chimpanzees from all United States’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) labs and the successful closure of many labs that conducted animal testing including in Hamburg, Germany and at Harvard University.
Additionally, Goodall strongly opposed factory farms and encouraged people to follow plant based diets when possible.
A Remarkable Story
Dr. Jane Goodall passed away at the age of 91 in her sleep on October 1st 2025 while on a speaking tour. Even in her old age she relentlessly continued her mission, traveling 300 days a year, educating audiences on the importance of protecting our home: planet Earth and all the species that call it home.
In honor of her work, Tanzania designated the Gombe Stream Reserve a national park in 1978 and the Jane Goodall Institute operates a research station in the Reserve.
Her many awards include the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal, the Templeton Prize, a Dame of the British Empire, the U.S Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor in the United States, and a United Nations Messenger of Peace — the U.N.’s highest honor for global citizenship.
Dr. Jane Goodall’s impact on the world cannot be overstated, but we must continue to build the work she started. Students are already planting trees in honor of her legacy, but we all must join in the movement, and we must not lose hope.