Heroes Among Us: Jane Goodall

With bad news and depressing stories in the headlines everyday, I’ve decided to start a new category of posts about Heroes Among Us. Some will be names you may have heard, while others will be unknown–people quietly going about their business, making a difference in the world, one person, day or animal at a time. 

Most people know Jane Goodall is a researcher who spent many years in Africa studying and learning about chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. She observed their complex social behaviors and tool use, challenging previous beliefs about the differences between humans and animals. She is also known for her conservation efforts and founding the Jane Goodall Institute. 

I admire Jane for many reasons, but here are my top three:

1.When Jane Goodall was young she dreamed of going to Africa to study animals. She worked hard and saved her money, not able to afford college. When she was just 23 she traveled to visit a friend who lived in Nairobi, Kenya. Once there, she met famous paleoanthropologist Dr. Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey, who offered her a job at the local natural history museum. She worked there for a time before Leakey decided to send her to the Gombe Stream Game Reserve (what is today Gombe Stream National Park.) Even though she lacked formal training, she made her dream come true– a lesson all of us can learn about following your passion, no matter what.

2. Jane Goodall is vegan.

Jane says,

“Most people do not realize the unspeakable cruelty suffered by animals on our factory farms. And some who know, do not really care.  People have said to me that, after all, the animals are bred for food – as though this means that they are no longer sentient beings. Others beg me not to tell them about it, as they love animals and are very sensitive – so they can go on eating pigs and cows without feeling guilt. I stopped eating meat some 50 years ago when I looked at the pork chop on my plate and thought: this represents fear, pain, death.  That did it, and I went plant-based instantly.”

She goes on to say, “The effect of our modern meat production on the environment is truly terrifying. For one thing, huge areas of forest are cut down to grow the grain to feed the billions of animals we eat each year, or to provide grazing (Mongabay). This releases CO2 into the atmosphere, the main component of the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. The droughts caused by climate change that are getting worse in sub Saharan Africa are quickly reducing traditional grazing areas to dusty, eroding deserts (Unicef). Huge amounts of water are wasted to transform vegetable protein into animal protein (TIME). Surface water is shrinking, and underground aquifers are shrinking too, (EPA) and becoming polluted, often from the runoff from agricultural chemicals or the “lagoons” of animal waste produced by the animals themselves. Then we must consider the large quantity of methane produced by the digestive systems of the animals, especially cows – a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 (EPA). And finally, the vast amounts of fossil fuels used to keep the whole meat producing industry operational is adding enormously to the greenhouse gases (One Greet Planet).

For all of these reasons, and more, I chose to eat plant-based all those years ago. I continue to ask people to consider what this choice really means on a moral and practical level for animals and the environment. It is the choice to change our individual lives, which will in turn have enormous benefits for all of humanity and all of the other living creatures we share our home with.”

I admire Jane for making this change and for speaking for the animals who have no voice. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if every one of us did the same thing?

3. Jane was challenged by many (men) in the scientific community because she claimed that the chimps she was studying had emotions and personalities. They also didn’t like that she’d named the chimps in her study, rather than give them a number as other scientists had always done. Despite the disbelief and pushback, she held firm, writing her first book, ‘My Friends, the Wild Chimpanzees,’ published by National Geographic, aimed at the general public rather than an academic audience. Her peers were outraged. Dr. Jane Goodall earned her Ph.D. on February 9, 1966, and continued to work at Gombe for the next twenty years.

Now, at 91 years old, she is still committed to making a difference, traveling 300 days a year to locations all over the globe. 

I admire her for overcoming the adversity and sticking to her beliefs, despite the abuse she took from others in the field– another lesson we all can learn about doing what’s right, regardless of the consequences. 

Jane says,

“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… Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.”

May we all strive to be more like Jane Goodall.

See my recent instagram post about our choices.