For Jane.
This loss breaks my heart beyond words, but what an unbelievable 91 years.
The first time I saw Jane Goodall speak was circa 1992, in Spokane, Washington. My mother took me to see her (I would take my mother to see her speak in Tampa in 2014). Jane was giving one of her hundreds of talks on not just her work with the chimpanzees of Gombe, but on the larger lessons of the plight of all Earthlings. My mother bought me a souvenir, a print featuring all of the chimpanzees from her research in the 1960s, and I memorized all of their details: David Greybeard, Flo, Flint, Goliath, Frodo, Faban, and others. I was awestruck by her bravery in venturing into the lives of such powerful creatures; at that time in my life, my obsession was orcas, and I wanted to understand them and connect with them as Jane had done with primates. Having her as a role model, both as a woman and as a scientist, was transformative for my young self. As a child, I always had a sense that animals were not so different from humans as society perpetually placed them, that my sense of “personhood” never hit a hard line after other humans; it always included other species of animals. Jane Goodall validated this sense of mine that was at odds with what society told me. Thank you, Jane.
I took this blurry pic of Jane when she gave a talk that my mother and I attended in Tampa, 2014.
Into my young adulthood, I learned from Jane what it means to be not just a scientist, but also a naturalist and a feminist. That drawing from intuition is a strength and can inform data collection and analysis. That solving environmental problems starts with solving human problems. That engaging with our world - human and non-human alike - must always start with seeking understanding of it. That empathy and compassion are necessary qualities in engaging in the natural world. As I read more about Jane’s life in Gombe and the challenges she faced in the scientific community, especially as a young woman without an academic pedigree, I began to feel more empowered in understanding the ways that patriarchal systems and misogyny had negatively impacted me both personally and in my academic pursuits as a scientist. She persisted in pushing back on the [entirely male] establishment when they decried her evidence because it didn’t align with pre-conceived notions of what separates humans from animals, and condemned her on the basis of her age and gender. Jane’s resilience in her own work, and her broader feminism, helped ignite my own, and still inspires my capacity to be a “difficult woman” as much as necessary. Thank you, Jane.
One of my personal favorite Jane quotes.
This last summer (2025), I was on my big “Sea & She trip”, which included time in Tanzania. While on that leg of the trip, I read Jane’s book The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, co-authored with Douglas Abrams, which I blogged about here during my trip. It was beautiful to read Jane’s words and be inside her mind somewhat while in her treasured land of Tanzania (though I never got anywhere near Gombe and saw no chimpanzees). During my time on Zanzibar and around Arusha/Ngorongoro, I saw evidence of social and environmental progress that must be connected to Jane’s work, directly or indirectly.
In her dedication to the plight of the chimpanzees, Jane quickly learned that human needs had to be met in order for sustainable environmental action to occur. Poaching wouldn’t stop if there were no financial alternatives for the people of Gombe. Deforestation wouldn’t be reduced if there were no other sources of income but logging. The people of a community cannot care for the environment if they are without clean water and food. And education is paramount for all of the aforementioned to occur. So Jane set her efforts on not just stopping the killing of chimpanzees, but also fixing the desperation in the human communities that results in the cycle of suffering for all beings in an ecosystem. Reciprocity is the key concept, and Jane could see this clearly from the beginning. Her Roots and Shoots movement builds up communities through educating and empowering youth. The Jane Goodall Institute continues conservation efforts around the world, especially focusing on endangered species of East Africa.
What I noticed in Tanzania, whether I was talking to a scientist at the SCUBA shop on Zanzibar or a cab driver in Arusha, was two major things: 1) Tanzanian women and girls now have more rights when it comes to education, employment, and motherhood than we have in the US (I know that isn’t a high bar right now, but still, progress for Tanzania), and 2) sustainability efforts and women-run businesses had increased in tandem (this includes the seaweed and sponge farming women I observed on Zanzibar). While I know there are many variables to account for these observations, I cannot help but see Jane’s hand.
In Jane’s Book of Hope, she gives an incredibly compelling case for hope, which is particularly poignant given the [gestures vaguely at all of the nonsense we are all currently living through]. She is clear that hope is not a passive whim, but rather active engagement. We can all engage in this world in the uniquely incredible ways that each of us can bring, and be a testament to Jane’s hope. It’s not going to be easy, but engage we must. Always.
She gave the world more than can ever be measured.
Thank you, Jane.
