In July of 1960, Jane Goodall, now 81, landed in Tanganyka on a mission: to study the wild chimpanzees. Her world-reknown research has had a significant impact. “Today the social lives of animals from whales to ants have been abundantly cataloged using Goodall’s methodology, which has helped to set the basic ground rules for contemporary field biology. Goodall herself became the first exemplar — before Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking or Neil deGrasse Tyson — of the pop-culture scientist-communicator. She has inspired countless scientists, from the leader of Save the Elephants to the director of the Orangutan Project, at the same time as she has thrown open the door to other pioneering women in the sciences.” Read an extensive article about her and her work here.
