A Brief Look at Jane van Lewick-Goodall

EARLY YEARS

In the summer of 1960, a young English woman arrived on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in

Tanzania, East Africa. Although it was unheard of for a woman to venture into the wilds of the

African forest at that time, going to Africa had bee n Jane Goodall’s childhood dream. As she first surveyed the mountains and valley forests of the Gomb e Stream Chimpanzee Reserve, she had no idea her coming efforts would redefine the relations hip between humans and animals, or that the project would continue into the 21 st century.

Encouraged by her mother, Jane Goodall began her life long fascination with animals at an early age.

Throughout her childhood she read avidly about wild animals, dreaming about living like Tarzan and

Dr. Doolittle, and writing about the animals with whic h she lived.

As a young woman, her passion grew stronger, and whe n a close friend invited her to Kenya in

1957, Jane Goodall readily accepted. Within a few mo nths of her arrival, she met with famed anthropologist and paleontologist Dr. Louis Leakey.

Dr. Leakey had been in the process of searching for someone to spearhead a study on the b ehaviour of wild chimpanzees. Jane Goodall’s patience and persistent desire to understand animals made her an ideal candidate for the groundbreaking study. Dr. Leakey believed that a mind uncluttered by academia would yield a fresh perspective. Critics were sceptical and predicted t hat Jane Goodall’s research would last no longer than a few short weeks. Today, more than four decade s later, the research that Dr. Goodall began at

Gombe Stream is the longest continuous study of a wild species in the world.

THE WOMAN WHO REDEFINED MAN

In 1965, Jane Goodall earned her PhD in Ethology from

Cambridge University. Soon after, sh...

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...rench Legion of Ho nor •

Additional honours include: the Kyoto Prize, The Ar k Trust Lifetime Achievement Award, the

Encyclopedia Britannica Award and the Animal Welfar e Institute’s Albert Schweitzer Award.

She remains the only non-Tanzanian to have received the Medal of Tanzania.

ACADEMIC HONOURS:

Jane Goodall has received honorary doctorates from th e University of Guelph, University of

Toronto and Toronto’s Ryerson University, as well a s from the University of Haifa, Salisbury State

University, Western Connecticut State University, t he University of North Carolina, Tufts

University, the University of Philadelphia, La Sall e College, the University of Southern California, the University of Utrecht, Munich University, Edinb urgh University, and the University of Dar Es

Salaam. Most recently, Cornell University appointed

Goodall as a distinguished Andrew D. White