Jane Goodall
Lagging Religions; Hopeful Signs

Jane Goodall, at 70, is ever the soft-spoken, independent woman who set off to do field research with chimps in Africa and never came back, allowing her work to consume her entire life. Dr. Goodall's accomplishments are renowned, not merely for the influential body of scientific work she produced, but in having single-handedly caused an entire species—homo sapiens—to reconsider and actually redefine its relationship with the animal world. In this interview, she speaks about the maze of challenges facing us today as the caretakers of a complex, living entity called Earth.

"Once we lose our arrogance that we are different than all other animals, we can develop all kinds of new attitudes towards life."

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.

In 1977, Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which continues the Gombe research and is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and other primates, and their habitats. The Institute also is widely recognized for establishing innovative, community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa, and the Roots & Shoots education program that has 6,000 groups in more than 87 countries.

Dr. Goodall travels an average 300 days per year, speaking about the threats facing primates, environmental crises, and her reasons for hope that humankind will indeed solve the problems we 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 United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan named Dr. Goodall a United Nations “Messenger of Peace.” In 2004, at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, Prince Charles invested Dr. Goodall as a Dame of the British Empire, the female equivalent of knighthood.

Her list of publications includes 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:A Spiritual Journey, as well as many children's books. The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior is the definitive scientific work on chimpanzees and is the culmination of Jane Goodall's scientific career. She 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.

Resources

www.janegoodall.org/

www.parliamentofreligions.org