Remembering Dr. Jane Goodall

Yesterday, October 1, 2025, the world lost one of its most extraordinary voices for creation. Dr. Jane Morris Goodall, died at the age of 91. Her journey from curious child to pioneering primatologist, conservationist, and global humanitarian is a reminder of how passion, courage, and compassion can change the course of science—and our relationship with the natural world.

As I reflect on her life and work, I hope to revisit a little bit of what she taught us—not just about chimpanzees, but about ourselves as created beings, and what it means to leave a legacy worth following.

Born in London in 1934, Jane Goodall nurtured a fascination with animals from very early on. She never followed a typical academic route. At 18, she left school to work, then saved her way to Kenya. Her encounter with anthropologist Louis Leakey would change everything. Leakey saw in Jane a rare combination of curiosity, patience, humility—and encouraged her to pursue primate research despite her lack of formal qualifications.

In 1960, she traveled to what is now Tanzania and began her landmark studies at Gombe Stream. Equipped with little more than a notebook and binoculars—and a deep, abiding sense of wonder—she ventured into realms previously unexplored by many scientists.

What Jane observed at Gombe didn’t simply add data; they changed the foundations of how we view other species—especially our closest living relatives.

• She showed that chimpanzees are not vegetarian: they eat meat.
• She observed that they make and use tools to get termites—an ability long thought unique to humans.
• Perhaps most poignantly, she saw them as individuals—mothers caring for infants, alliances, rivalries, emotions, personality. These were not just observations in the wild; they demanded a shift in how humans think about human exceptionalism.

Her work helped narrow the gulf between humans and other animals, especially in our capacity for emotion, culture, and tools.

Here are just a few reflections Dr. Goodall’s life offers:

1. Curiosity & Humility: She didn’t assume she knew everything. She watched, she listened, she allowed the subjects of her study—chimpanzees—to show their lives.
2. Courage to Break Conventions: At a time when many believed animals were mere automata, she argued they had personalities; when tool use was thought unique to humans, she showed otherwise.
3. Interconnectedness: She reminds us that human well-being and ecological health are bound together: habitats, species, people—none flourish in isolation.
4. Action & Hope: Knowledge without action is wasted. She didn’t just study, she spoke, she organized, she inspired youth. And through it all, she held hope—not in the abstract, but as a compass for living.

I see Dr. Jane Goodall’s life as a kind of beacon. Her example opens us to re/discover:

• Respect the creational world, not as an optional concern, but as core to who we are.
• Recognize that every person, whether scientist, teacher, student, or nature-lover, has a part to play.
• Use our voices and gifts—no matter how small—to help carry forward what matters: justice, compassion, sustainability.

If you are looking for resources to deepen your participation in realizing the the world that Jane’s life seems to point toward, I’d recommend leaning into the Sustainable Development Goals; specifically numbers 10, 13, and/or 15. And if you’re looking for a framework to help you re-imagine how to become the kind of person who sees and inhabits the world as Jane did, then I recommend considering the Inner Development Goals.

Thank you, Dr. Goodall, for everything. May we honor you by continuing your work: protecting the voiceless, standing up for what’s right, inspiring the next generation, caring deeply about life around us, and opening toward a subject-to-subject relationship with all of creation.

Rest in peace, dwight