Inspiring Primatologist: Jane Goodall

By Kiersten Gustafson

When Jane Goodall, primatologist and anthropologist, came to speak at my undergraduate university, I was prepared to be impressed; as a young woman, she had been a trailblazer in a male-dominated field, with her research on chimpanzees challenging common notions of what it meant to be human. I was not prepared, however, to be so inspired by her compassion. One of the major criticisms of Jane’s work is that she anthropomorphized chimpanzees by naming them instead of using numbers. But clearly to her, they were already so human-like that such a rule seemed absurd. Listening to her speak, it’s obvious that spending months as an accepted member of a chimp troop gave her a rare connection to animals, and left her with a conviction to tell us all that ‘they are not so different from us’. This message has always rung true to me, so it means a lot to me to see such a well-respected scientist dedicate her life to it (Jane now spends the majority of her time touring and giving educational talks). Even in her 80s, she is still open to change, becoming vegan in 2021. I can only hope to be as open-minded, kind, and committed to activism in my own life.