Jane’s Dream
It all began with a dream that everyone laughed at. When Jane Goodall was just ten years old, she had a bold vision. She would go to Africa, live with wild animals, and write books about them. Everyone told her no. They laughed, dismissing her as “just a girl” in a time when they believed her only role was to have children and take care of her husband. But her mother offered Jane the only encouragement that mattered. She said to Jane you will have to work hard but never give up; I believe in you.
Jane didn’t just fulfil that dream; she changed modern science. Jane wasn’t just a scientist who changed how we see chimpanzees. She was a worldwide traveller who spent 300 days a year on the road since 1986. She was a tireless voice who taught us. We are not separate from the natural world; we are a part of it.
Jane’s Message
Her message, delivered with her gorgeous calm voice, was always the same.
“If you want to change someone’s mind, it’s no good arguing; you have to reach into their heart.”
She did just that. Until the day she passed. Jane was a symbol of fierce, unwavering hope, living by her own motto:
“Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved”
As we mourn the loss of the most amazing woman, we are left with her final, crucial reminder. Challenging us to understand that by continuing to destroy the natural world, we are also destroying ourselves. Her legacy isn’t just in the jungle; it’s in the potential for each one of us to rise, follow our impossible dreams, and live the hope she spent her life planting.
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Jane Goodall’s Gombe Revolution: Redefining Humanity
The Chimpanzee’s ‘Toolmaker’ Breakthrough
It was 1960 in the humid, buzzing forest of Gombe, Tanzania. Jane Goodall, just 26 and without a degree, crouched in awe. She watched the chimpanzee, David Greybeard, focusing on a termite mound. He reached for a small twig and gently ripped off the leaves. Then he started fishing for termites. That small action, a chimp making and using a tool, changed anthropology forever. For decades, people defined humans by that ability. That day, Jane shattered that definition.
“Now we must redefine man, redefine tool, or accept chimpanzees as human.”- Dr Louis Leakey.
Dr Jane Goodall was a pioneer in the study of animal behaviour and a role model to many people around the world, including me.
It was during a trip to Africa that Jane met Dr Louis Leakey, the well-known palaeoanthropologist. He recognised her strong passion and viewed her as a blank slate, free from scientific constraints. He arranged funding for her to study chimpanzees in Gombe in 1960.
This opportunity made Jane one of Leakey’s Trimates, often called “Leakey’s Angels.” She worked alongside two other groundbreaking women. Dian Fossey, who studied mountain gorillas in Rwanda, and Birutė Galdikas, who focused on orangutans in Borneo. These three women changed the field of primatology.
Though despite the importance of her work, Jane encountered discrimination as a woman without formal scientific training. To support her research, Leakey sent her to the University of Cambridge in 1962. She was accepted as one of the first people without an undergraduate degree. Earning her PhD in ethology in 1965.
Naming Chimpanzee: Recognising Individuality and Emotion
Beyond the use of tools, Jane also changed how scientific research is conducted. At the time, animals were labelled with numbers. But Jane chose to give the animals she was observing names- like David Greybeard, Flo and Goliath. By recognising these animals as individuals, Jane could observe their distinct personalities, emotions and complex social structures. She documented their capacity for joy and grief, compassion and long-term memory, and even warfare. Jane didn’t just study chimpanzees; she revealed them as beings with emotional lives as complex as our own. It was a revolutionary, humanising act that still guides ethology today.
The Enduring Scientific Record: Gombe’s 60-Year Chimpanzee Study
The research Jane pioneered in the 1960s in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Is one of the longest continuous studies of a wild animal species. Which continues to this day. This allows generational data, which scientists can use to study many questions around chimpanzees.
“Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”- Dr Jane Goodall.
In her book In The Shadow of Man. Jane shows her findings of living in Gombe with the Chimpanzee to the world. The book talks about the chimp’s life cycle, breeding and behaviour. As well as overcoming challenges working with wildlife. Furthermore what life was like in East Africa as a female European researcher.

The Great Pivot: From Scientist to Global Conservation Activist
The 1986 Conference: Jane Goodall’s Call to Action
Jane spent the next 26 years living her dream, studying chimpanzees. But in 1986, everything changed. At a conference in Chicago. Jane heard reports of habitat loss, deforestation, and the illegal pet trade of chimpanzees outside Gombe. Her sanctuary was surrounded by destruction. The choice was difficult: stay an observer in her paradise or leave to fight for the world. She famously said, “I went to that conference as a scientist. And I left as an activist.” She left the forest, trading her home for a life on the road. Knowing she had to use her voice to help save our planet.
Working with the “Enemies”
She even worked and made friends with the “enemies”, like Conoco. Which was the oil and gas company working in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They agreed to help build a sanctuary for orphaned chimpanzees. She believed that if an extractive company wanted to do better, she would help them. So, Conoco built the sanctuary called Tchimpounga with the help of Jane. The Jane Goodall Institute continues to feed the chimps and pay the workers. This just showed how amazing Jane was and how she wasn’t scared to be controversial. If it meant helping chimpanzees and creating change.
NIH and Chimpanzee
Jane also went to research centres run by NIH in the US to see the chimpanzee. They were often kept in cages alone, unable to exhibit natural behaviours. Jane could have been angry. But she instead showed the scientists pictures of the chimpanzee from Gombe and them living in groups, showing natural behaviours. After this, she compared the conditions of the lab chimpanzee. Many of the scientists were moved to tears because they didn’t understand how they should care for these chimpanzees. So, Jane helped again to create another sanctuary called Chimp Haven. Where these lab chimpanzees could happily live out the rest of their lives.
TACARE: Holistic, Community-Led Conservation
Jane’s next important realisation was that you cannot save the animals without first helping the local people. This led to the creation of the TACARE (Take Care) approach. Which is now the foundation of the Jane Goodall Institute’s work. TACARE is a complete method that supports communities with health, education, and sustainable jobs. As well as making them active partners in conservation. Jane understood that everything is connected. When the environment and the animals are healthy, the people are healthy too. By improving lives and providing sustainable livelihoods, TACARE reduces the need for harmful practices like deforestation and poaching. This creates benefits for people, animals, and the planet.
Documenting the Expanding Crisis Through a Window
Her following books, like Through a Window, bring her story to the present. It explains what Jane has witnessed over 30 years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe. She explains many of the emotions she sees in chimpanzees, which mirror the emotions we experience. From devastating deaths, exciting births, murders and moments of affection. Jane talks about it all, referencing some of the most famous chimpanzees that were just born in previous books.

The Enduring Hope: Jane Goodall’s Lifelong Commitment
Empowering Future Leaders with Roots & Shoots
Jane Goodall’s answer to the loss of hope she saw in young people was the Roots & Shoots program. Founded in 1991, this global youth movement started because she realised that many children felt powerless to shape the future. Today, it has grown significantly, engaging over 1.7 million young people in nearly 100 countries. Roots & Shoots encourages participants. From kindergarten through to university, to start local projects that benefit people, animals, and the environment. This fosters a generation of caring, active conservationists.
The Broader Impact: Jane Goodall Institute and the Hopecast Podcast
While Roots & Shoots focuses on future leaders. The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and her podcast, Hopecast, make sure her message reaches people of all ages. Founded in 1977 to support chimpanzee research at Gombe. The JGI has grown into a large non-profit organisation with over 27 offices worldwide. It now leads international efforts in conservation, community development, education, and research. To further share her message, Jane launched the Hopecast podcast in late 2020. In it, she talks with global figures about practical ways to create a better world for all living things.
The Manifesto of Hope: Jane Goodall’s Four Pillars
I love this book. In her later years, Jane summarised her lifetime of experience in The Book of Hope. A philosophical work that serves as a guide for optimism. It describes her early life during World War II. Then the emotions of travelling to Gombe with her mother at 26. Her incredible discoveries and the tough decision that led her out of the forest. Into the world to support environmental justice.
Jane combines these powerful stories with her four Pillars of Hope. The Amazing Human Intellect, the Resilience of Nature, the Power of Young People, and the Indomitable Human Spirit. This book is the best remedy to the constant exposure of negative news, climate change, and wars that can sometimes reduce our faith in humanity. Finishing this beautiful book feels like taking a breath of fresh air. You feel hopeful and inspired to advocate for causes, whether for local species or larger conservation efforts abroad. I would highly recommend reading!!

It’s Time to Continue Jane Goodall’s Legacy
Appointed as a UN Messenger of Peace in 2002, Jane Goodall never slowed down. She kept travelling, speaking, and advocating for the world’s most urgent issues until her passing on October 1, 2025. Jane never gave up the fight; she simply passed the torch to us.
Jane was a breath of fresh air in the conservation community. She brought hope to everyone she met and showed us how to help our environment, people, and animals. The work she started in that quiet Tanzanian forest. When she heard that soft rip as she discovered David Greybeard using a tool. Has grown into a powerful global movement.

Jane’s Legacy
Her legacy challenges us while offering calm reassurance. As Jane famously said,
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Jane guided us, bringing us all the hope we needed. We can, as she envisioned, move towards a world where we all live in harmony with nature.
If you want to learn more about Jane Goodall’s life. National Geographic have a lovely documentary called Jane Goodall: The Hope.
We are the next generation to carry on her mission. What small step will you take today to support your local community, environment, or animals?
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Thank you for reading! Share what you loved about Jane Goodall and how you will carry on her legacy today!
Georgia xoxo
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