ROLE MODEL: A Look at JANE GOODALL
"It can seem as you look out that it's just chaos and that we behave in terrible ways and we never really seem to get better. But we have to remember that compassion and love and altruism is equally deeply rooted in our primate heritage. They are just as evident in chimpanzees as the brutal, aggressive, side of the chimpanzee nature. We, humans, therefore have a choice ahead of us; we don't have to go the aggressive route. We can push and push and push towards love and compassion. That is where I believe human destiny is ultimately taking us."
	The year was 1960. On the shores of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa, a young 26-year-old arrived to study chimpanzees, fulfilling a life dream of venturing into the African forest. The young woman was named Jane Goodall, who would later become famous for her work with chimpanzees in Tanzania. Goodall watched as the chimps utilized twigs as tools for hunting termites by stripping the leaves off, negating the earlier theory that humans were the only species that made tools. Louis Leakey, Jane's mentor responded to this discovery, "Now we must redefine tool, redefine [hu]man, or accept chimpanzees as humans." Within her first year at Gombe, Jane overturned the belief that chimps were primarily vegetarian, as she watched them hunt and eat other animals, such as bushpigs. Five years after she landed in East Africa, Goodall received her Ph.D in Ethology from Cambridge University, and soon after, she returned to Tanzania to continue her research, establishing the Gombe Stream Research Center. Her later studies conclude that chimpanzees engage in "a primitive form of brutal 'warfare.'" 1974 marked the year that a four-year war originated in Gombe. "Dr. Goodall would also chart surprising courtship patterns in which males force femals into consortships in remote spots for days or even months." In 1977, Dr. Goodall started the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation to provide ongoing support for the field research on wild chimpanzees. Today, the institute is interested in showcasing the steps that all individuals can take for a better environment for all living beings. JGI has developed innovative community-based conservation projects around Africa, as well as forming Roots and Shoots programs around the globe in more than seventy countries. Throughout her career, Dr. Goodall received many incredible awards and honors, in including the Medal of Tanzania, the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, and the Ganghi/Kin Award for Nonviolence. Dr. Goodall has been named a United Nations "Messenger of Peace." In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II named Dr. Goodall a Dame of the British Empire, the equivalent of a knighthood. For more information, visit janegoodall.org, or check out one of her many books. Our favorites include My Life With the Chimpanzees and Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey. ACTIVISM CONTENTS