Hi everyone! It has been 10 years since I've updated this blog! Time gets away from us with family and work! But I wanted to post something about Jane Goodall after her recent passing and this seemed the best place to do that.
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Photo credit: Jane Goodall Institute https://janegoodall.org/ |
To say that Jane Goodall was an inspiration to me would be an understatement. For as long as I can remember, she has been my role model and idol, from a child who was obsessed with primates, to the adult to became a scientist and now tries to instill hope and positive energy into students to be active parts of making the world a better place. Her loss is going to take a while for me to process. I have never lived in a world without her. She was exactly 50 years older than me, to the day, and she used every bit of energy she had to show the world that if we work together with all creatures of the world we can make the world better for all of us.
I was lucky enough to see Jane speak three times: once when I was about 12 years old, in 6th or 7th grade, when I asked my parents for tickets to a lecture series with influential women, among which were Julie Andrews, Sally Ride, and Jane Goodall. I lined up to ask her a question at the end of the session, to ask what she thought I needed to do to become a primatologist, but they stopped the Q&A right before I was able to ask my question. I was heartbroken, but my mom bought me one of her books and we stood in line to have her sign it. The second time was in high school, she was the featured speaker at the Wisconsin teacher’s convention and my mom took me along with her. I took furious notes and wrote up what I saw for our school paper. The third time was when I was living in Edinburgh, Scotland after I finished my PhD and was a postdoctoral researcher. Some friends and I saw she was going to be on campus and went for a drink before the lecture, going early to make sure we got seats. I definitely noticed she seemed older now, speaking more slowly and taking a little longer to respond to people’s questions. She did stay after to meet anyone who wanted to stay and sign books. I had left all my books of hers back in the states, so they had cards available for us to have her sign. Here I was able to tell her she inspired me to become a scientist and that I just graduated with my PhD. She likely doesn’t remember that I told her that but I was so proud that I actually was able to tell her this. Its not often you get to tell your lifelong role model that you finally got to be what you wanted to be!
Being in the same room as her is an almost other worldly experience. She is so soft spoken and calm, yet has everyone in the room hanging on her every word. Her messaging is so personal and positive with nothing but hope for the future, its really intoxicating and inspiring. It energizes me and reminds me that being a scientist is truly amazing and that inspiring children and young people to learn and make a difference in the world is so important.
Once in grad school on a drive from Indiana to Wisconsin I listened to her audiobook of “Reason for Hope”. In the book she talks about how becoming a mother gave her new insight into the behavior of mother chimpanzees. This was so impactful for me to hear because I was thinking a lot about how I could possibly be both a scientist and a mom in my future. This also was a clear example of the need to diverse experiences and backgrounds in science, as they all give different perspectives into our observations. This goes along also with new analysis that the idea of the “alpha male” being a baseline for social structure in primates is false, that most primate species are not male-dominated and have huge diversity in interpersonal hierarchies. This is likely a construct of early male scientists projecting their ideas onto their animal subjects.
A few years ago, Barbie released a Jane Goodall Barbie doll and I ordered it as quickly as possible. When I opened the box I cried. I thought of the little girl who idolized Jane and how much she would have loved to have this Jane Barbie. The Barbie Jane came with binoculars, a watch and notebook for recording behavioral observations, and a chimpanzee friend David Greybeard, with stick tool. I am so happy that kids today have dolls of inspiriting women, continuing to break down the boxes that women have been put in for what they can do or how they should look. She is sitting proudly on my dresser, next to my Sally Ride Barbie. 8 year old me would have lost her mind to have these toys.
Jane’s unrelenting message is that we must have hope. Hope that we can create a better future for people and for the planet. For humans and all other living things. And this is something that has stuck with me and is at the center of how I teach my students about ecology and environmental issues. We have to have hope because if we don’t, how is anything going to get better? Even if the problems on a global scale seem insurmountable, we can have hope that we can make positive change in our neighborhoods and communities. This hope propels innovation in technology and ways of thinking and is necessary as we move through the present and future. And it helps us remember that while some times are dark, sometimes very dark, we have to turn our anger or sadness into positive action. This is truly the only way to create a sustainable, respectful, and joyous future.
We are all so lucky to have been in the world with Jane Goodall. Now we just need to carry on what she started. Pant-hoot together, smile, laugh, embrace one another, just like the chimps do. I am devastated she is gone but so grateful for the marks she left on my life.
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