More Than a Scientist: Honoring Jane Goodall’s Life and Legacy
On October 1, 2025, the world lost one of its most distinctive voices in science, conservation, and hope. Dame Jane Goodall died at age 91, reportedly of natural causes while on a speaking tour in California. Her death signals the end of a period, but the purview of her impact is far from over.
Jane Goodall's life was extraordinary not only because of her contributions, but also because of how she lived it, and moreover, how she inspired others to do so. Her experience speaks to lessons we can all carry forward—curiosity, humility, urgency, and interdependence.
From Curious Girl to Trailblazing Scientist
Jane Valerie Morris-Goodall was born on April 3, 1934. She grew up in England with a restlessness compounded by a fierce love for animals and the natural world. She had an affinity for nature—before she was labeled a scientist she adored animals, kept pets, and voraciously read about wild animals.
In 1957, she traveled to Kenya, where she met famed paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. Leakey invited her to conduct field research in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania do a study observing chimpanzees in the wild, despite Goodall having no formal academic credentials at the time. In 1960, at 26 years old, she began what would become one of the most long-term studies of a primates ever done.
Right from the beginning, she went against accepted norms. Rather than maintaining a detached, impersonal distance behind her records, she instead sat during the chimpanzees, observing their behavior, waiting, and building a relationship of trust with them. Eventually, she reported on behaviors that rocked the scientific community.
Some of her Landmark Discoveries:
She observed chimpanzees making and using tools, behaviors once claimed to be unique to humans, having never been observed in any other species.
She reported that chimpanzees ate meat, engaged in hierarchies of social order and status, exhibited aggression, showed altruism, affections, and withheld grief with one another - traits that were long believed to be entirely human.
She took the time to eventually name each individual chimpanzee, even going so far as to indicate the personalities of the individuals by recognizing their history instead of treating them as nameless specimens.
These insights forced scientists (as well as the public) to reconsider our presumptions about the boundary separating ourselves from other species, the line was blurred.
From Observation to Advocacy: Expanding the Mission
Jane's work didn't stop in the forest. Very early on, she believed that understanding chimpanzees meant conserving their home, stopping human pressures, and working with the communities around the research center.
In 1977, she formed The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), for the support of the Gombe research project and the encouragement of conservation across Africa. JGI grew over time from a small local organization into one that is global and operates in dozens of countries.
One of her largest initiatives is, and one that continues to the present time, is Roots & Shoots. Opened in 1991, Roots & Shoots supports youth to become involved in conservation work in their communities, whether that is tree planting, habitat restoration or working for cleaner water, and more.
Goodall proved that conservation should be approached holistically: caring for species, people, habitat, and dignity. She argued that conservation distanced from the needs and rights of people is destined to fail. Goodall was clear, to save chimpanzees meant to build safe, sustainable, and just communities around the chimpanzees.
Why Her Impact Matters—Still and Always
The loss of Jane Goodall is deeply felt, but her legacy continues with urgency. Here’s why her influence matters now more than ever:
She changed how we see ourselves
By revealing tool making, grieving, politics, and personalities among chimpanzees, she subverted the idea of humans based on their distinctiveness or superiority. She urged humility and inspired curiosity. This mindset shift is significant for how we conduct ourselves with other animals, ecosystems, which in the end our fellow humans.
She made science human
Goodall steered close observations, empathy, and deep engagement. Her methodology of patience, as a relation, and immersion, was in direct contrast to a faraway disconnection from the relations. She showed that science could honor the dignity of beings, their complexities, and their relationships.
She built a model of conservation that works at local scales
Her insistence that conservation had to involve humans, especially the people living with the closest proximity to wild habitats, has changed how we think relative to 'conservation' as we term it. The work of JGI and its projects of restoring forests, whose well-being centers the livelihoods and education of impacted communities, is a progress, not merely a desirable ambition with impact.
She inspired generations and amplified hope
Goodall was not simply a scientist; she was a storyteller, a messenger, and a mentor. Her messages brought conservation to life by reaching a very wide audience of children, policymakers, researchers, scientists, and everyday people alike. Many young activists, researchers, and youth point to her presentations and writings as life changing.
She carried the banner for what she referred to as "active hope," or the belief that we can take action that matters in the face of overwhelming odds. And at a time when feelings of despair—and I mean real despair—about climate change, species extinction, biodiversity loss, and social and economic inequality can feel like a flood, that notion has great meaning.
She reminds us of urgency and collective responsibility
The threats that she warned about—positive effects of deforestation, diminishing species, approximately fragmented habitat—are in acceleration. We have undergone the COVID years, climactic shocks, and seemingly unending pressures of development, all of which have imposed new stakes of life or death for these organisms. To honor her legacy will mean to take action—our actions, our polices, our commitments—not just a feeling about ideas of social justice, placemaking, environmental ethics and sustainability.
“We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place.” Jane Goodall
“Every single one of us makes an impact every single day, and we get to choose what sort of impact we make.” Jane Goodall
A Call to Keep Her Flame Alive
While we grieve her passing, we can also celebrate a turning point. The life of Jane Goodall challenges us to ask:
How do we bring curiosity, humility, and empathy into our own endeavors, whether as scientists or citizens or activists?
How do we support conservation locally--especially where ecosystems and communities intersect?
How do we guide the next generation of environmental changers?
Where in our daily lives do we make choices-- about what to buy, how to travel, how to participate - that reflect respect for life and our planet?
Jane's legacy is not a monument, it's a movement in motion.
Let Jane's death be a time to reflect -- and a time to recommit. Not simply to remember Jane Goodall, but to continue her work: to care and to learn, to listen, and above all to hope AND to act.
To learn more information, visit www.womenspeakupus.org for resources, events and more.
#womenspeakupus #womenempowerment #JaneGoodall #womeninscience #science #
Written by: Peighton Yoakam
