Jane Goodall on Climate Change and Humanity: A call for action
Channel: Anthropology: Do Kamo
Date: 2021-12-09

Anthropologist and primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall is one of the leading experts on wild chimpanzees and is probably one of the most influential and inspiring scientists alive. One of her main concerns as a scientist and human being is Climate Change and its implications for all life on earth.

Her ground breaking discoveries regarding chimpanzee behavior, such as their tool use, hunting strategies and complex social structures, have arguably been crucial for not only getting a better understanding about our close primate cousins, but about ourselves too. 

In this reflection she's pondering on some of the key differences between chimpanzees and humans, as well as on the immense destructiveness our species causes on a global scale.


▬▬ Additional information ▬▬

Born in 1934 in Hampstead, London, Dr. Goodall is best known for her 60-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees since she first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960, where she witnessed human-like behaviours amongst chimpanzees, including armed conflict. In April 2002, she was named a UN Messenger of Peace. Goodall is an honorary member of the World Future Council. 

Goodall had always been drawn to animals and Africa, which brought her to the farm of a friend in the Kenya highlands in 1957. From there, she obtained work as a secretary, and acting on her friend's advice, she telephoned Louis Leakey, the Kenyan archaeologist and palaeontologist, with no other thought than to make an appointment to discuss animals. Leakey, believing that the study of existing great apes could provide indications of the behaviour of early hominids, was looking for a chimpanzee researcher. He raised funds, and on 14 July 1960, Goodall went to Gombe Stream National Park, becoming the first of what would come to be called The Trimates. 

Today, the field of primatology is made up almost evenly of men and women, in part thanks to the trailblazing of Goodall and her encouragement of young women to join the field. Leakey arranged funding, and in 1962 he sent Goodall, who had no degree, to the University of Cambridge. She went to Newnham College, Cambridge, and obtained a BA and proceeded to Darwin College, Cambridge where she obtained a PhD in ethology. She became the eighth person to be allowed to study for a PhD there without first having obtained a BA or BSc. Her thesis was completed in 1966 under the supervision of Robert Hinde on the Behaviour of free-living chimpanzees, detailing her first five years of study at the Gombe Reserve. 

On 19 June 2006 the Open University of Tanzania awarded her an honorary Doctor of Science degree. 


▬▬ Further Reading ▬▬

⸙ https://www.janegoodall.org/wp-content/uploads/2016_Bio_Long_JaneGoodall.pdf
⸙ https://www.janegoodall.org/wp-content/uploads/2020_Bio_Long_JaneGoodall.pdf
⸙ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10982345


▬▬ Sources, C & CC ▬▬ 

⸙ [Video] "#2. Q&A with Jane Goodall after the movie 'Jane' - Jane Goodall Institute - De Balie Kijkt" [https://www.facebook.com/debalie/videos/2218810681467678] by deBALIE (https://debalie.nl/) and the Jane Goodall Institute (https://www.janegoodall.org/) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/]. Content modifications: Increased brightness + added fade-in on displayed video fragment (06:56-12:39 min of original).

⸙ [Thumbnail] "Dr. Jane Goodall in Gombe National Park" [https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfupamr/48539452661/] by Simon Fraser University (August 2019, ID: LT0230-02) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/]. Modifications to the original image: Cropped out, adjustments in exposure, contrast, saturation and highlights, as well as overlaying of turquoise/blue-green area over image.


▬▬ Keywords ▬▬ 
#Goodall #Primatology #ClimateChange
#Anthropology #Philosophy #Ethics #Humanity
#Menschenaffe #Chimpanzees #Chimps #Apes
#Pan #troglodytes #GombeNationalPark #JaneGoodallInstitute