dr. jane goodall - 2006 biophilia award

Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, began her landmark study of chimpanzees in Tanzania in June 1960, under the mentorship of famed anthropologist and paleontologist Dr. Louis Leakey. Her work at the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve became the foundation of future primatological research and redefined the relationship between humans and animals.

One of Dr. Goodall's most significant discoveries came in her first year at Gombe, when she saw chimpanzees stripping leaves off stems to make useful tools for fishing termites out of mounds. This and subsequent observations of Gombe chimpanzees making and using tools would force science to rethink the definition of what separates “man the toolmaker” from other animals.

In 1977, Dr. Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI). Today JGI is a global organization supporting the research at Gombe in addition to many other programs for research, education, community development and conservation programs.

Dr. Goodall travels an average of 300 days per year speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees and other environmental concerns, and about her reasons for hope that humankind will solve the problems facing our planet.

In 2002, Dr. Goodall was appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as a UN Messenger of Peace. Others honors include the Medal of Tanzania, the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal and Japan's prestigious Kyoto Prize. In 2001, Dr. Goodall received the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence and, in 2003, the Franklin Institute’s Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life and Science as well as Spain’s coveted Prince of Asturias Award. In February 2004, Dr. Goodall was awarded England’s highest honor, Dame of the British Empire (DBE), in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

For more information on Dr. Goodall and her visit to Windsor, please click here.