Dr. Jane Goodall recently passed due to natural causes at the age of 91. She was more than conservationist, ethologist, and humanitarian. She was an icon. While known for six decades of research on wild chimpanzees, her impact transcended disciplines. As a climate scientist, I wanted to provide brief reflections on three lessons that I learned from Dr. Goodall.
Act On Your Passion
Dr. Goodall’s passion emerged at a very early age. In a tribute on its website, the Jane Goodall Institute wrote, “Jane was passionate about wildlife from early childhood, and she read avidly about the natural world. Her dream was to travel to Africa, learn more about animals, and write books about them.” She did exactly that. After pivoting from interest in insects, I was bitten by the weather bug. My sixth-grade science project was entitled, “Can a sixth grader predict the weather?’ My passion for weather became my career.
I remember reading about Dr. Goodall and watching stories about her on television. I vividly remember thinking that there must be a unique level of dedication and commitment to linger in the challenging forest environments of Tanzania for long periods of time. Immersion, patience and tenacity were personified by Dr. Goodall. That comes from passion. Scientific discovery doesn’t always operate on political, economic or need-based timelines. It requires 3P’s: passion, patience, and persistence.
Use Your Platform For Good
Dr. Goodall established her institute in 1977. It is a global leader in novel and community-focus programs to protect chimpanzees, habitats, and their associated habitats. Her Roots & Shoots program focused on environmental and humanitarian causes by engaging young people. For these efforts, the Captain Planet Foundation recognized her with its 2014 Exemplar Award. She has a received numerous awards, but I mention that one for a specific reason.
That same year, I received the Protector of the Earth Award from the same organization. To be candid, I was more excited about the prospect of meeting Dr. Goodall than receiving the award. Not only did I get to meet her at the awards gala, she agreed to have a conversation with me on Weather Geeks, the Sunday talk show that I hosted at the time on The Weather Channel. It is possibly one of the few times in my extensive career of engaging with many high-level people that I was almost at a loss for words.
She published over 27 books. Many of them were focused on children. My first book was a children’s book about weather with Dr. Fred Bortz called Dr. Fred’s Weather Watch, which was ironically based on my sixth-grade science project. Like many people that I admire and try to emulate, Dr. Goodall’s work was based on her passion, but she had similar levels of passion for conveying the importance of the work and empowering the next generation.
When I hear scientists or scholars frown at public engagement or call it “extra stuff,” I cringe. From scholars like Dr. Goodall, I learned that public engagement, media interactions, and informing stakeholders are central to my scholarship not add-on activities. When policymakers or the public questions why funding is spent on research in the forests of Tanzania or on the development of a rain-measuring satellite, it means the scholarly community, in part, has failed. Dr. Goodall understood that conveying the “So what?” of her work and nurturing future scientists or conservationists were critical to the well-being of all of us.
There Is Only One Planet And We Are Interconnected
Dr. Goodall’s doctoral dissertation was entitled The Behaviour of Free-living Chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve. That work shaped her legacy, but it was not a period. It was a comma. She cared about our planet and understood the role of chimpanzees, ecosystems, and people within the “bigger picture.” In April, Dr. Goodall published an Earth Day message. She wrote, “I urge everyone to treat every day of the year as Earth Day. Planet Earth is the only home we shall ever know yet we are relentlessly harming it.” She went on to say, “We are destroying forests, woodlands, wetlands, peatlands, savannas, prairies and all the other ecosystems I have not mentioned…. Polluting rivers, lakes and oceans…. Emitting greenhouse gasses that are causing temperatures to rise which lead to changing weather patterns with more hurricanes, tycoons, floods, draughts, heatwaves and forest fires that may destroy our homes.”
As a scientist who studies weather and climate, I strongly resonated with her statement. While most people understand that climate is changing naturally and with a human-caused steroid, there is a great deal of misinformation, agendas, innuendo, and disinformation too. If scholars choose to anchor only in their laboratories, field studies, journals and conferences, gaps are left behind for M.A.I.D to fill the void. In her final Earth Day message, Dr. Goodall offered these poignant words, “Millions and eventually billions of people thinking about their own environmental footprints will make a huge difference and go a long way towards healing Mother Earth. And remember, we depend on the natural world for food, water — well everything. So, for the sake of our children and all future generations, please start today, not only on this Earth Day 2025, but on all the days that lie ahead.”
My two kids are in college now, but they met Dr. Goodall when she was on Weather Geeks. They likely did not fully understand the importance of who she was, but they knew it was a big deal. I basically made them tag along with me to the studio 11 years ago. They are old enough now to know of her work. She advocated for them and the only planet they will likely ever know.
Thank you Dr. Goodall for the lessons.
