Valerie Jane Morris Goodall was born in London, England, on Apr. 3, 1934. As a child her love for animals started when her father gave her a stuffed toy chimpanzee that she named “Jubilee” instead of a traditional teddy bear.

After she finished school at age 18, Goodall worked as a secretary and a film production assistant.  On July 14th of 1960 she was able to travel to Africa with her mother for the first time. There she helped Louis Leakey, a paleontologist and anthropologist. Later in 1965 she got a Ph. D. in ethnology from the University of Cambridge despite not having an undergraduate degree.

Thanks to her connection with Leakey, Goodall founded and established the Gombe Stream Research Centre in Kasekera, Tanzania. There she was able to observe the behavior of chimpanzees. Goodall met and married a Dutch photographer named Baron Hugo Van Lawick in 1964 when he was sent to film her work. They had a son in 1967 but later divorced. 

Goodall stayed in Gombe from 1960-1975 directing fieldwork of her fellow doctoral candidates. In 1977, she co-founded the Jane Goodall Institute, where they strive to improve the understanding and safety of chimpanzees and protect the planet. 

Goodall worked for 60 years to spread awareness that chimpanzees need to be protected, because they are the closest relative species to humans, and she redefined the rules for species conservation to include the needs of people and the environment. She still works to this day to continue redefining the relationship between us humans and animals. 

“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.” – Goodall