Contents
To provide a platform for her environmentalism, Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which works on both conservation and economic development projects. 2 Through the Institute, Goodall started the Roots and Shoots project to mobilize young environmentalists. 1 Goodall was also a founding board member of the Nonhuman Rights Project, an animal advocacy group that seeks legal standing and other civil rights for animals. 3 4
Goodall passed away on October 1, 2025 at 91 years old. 5
Early Life and Career
Jane Goodall was born in London in 1934. She left school at 18, working as a film production assistant to pay her way to Africa where she worked as a research assistant to anthropologist Louis Leakey. 6 In June of 1960, Goodall started a camp in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream Game Reserve to observe chimpanzee behavior. 6 In 1965, the University of Cambridge awarded Goodall a Ph.D. in ethology, despite her never having completed a bachelor’s degree. 6 Goodall argued that chimpanzees, and other animals, have consistent personalities over time and use tools in daily life, controversial discoveries that challenged the definition of humans as a species and made her famous. 7
Goodall remained in Tanzania until 1975. 6 8 In 1977, Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation. 6 The Institute advocates for continuing Goodall’s work in studying primates, while also engaging in philanthropic projects including providing micro-credit in African communities, investing in women’s education, and providing seed funding for environmentalist projects. 9 The Goodall Institute also started the Roots and Shoots project to mobilize young environmental activists, which has since expanded to 86 countries. 10
Goodall passed away on October 1, 2025 at 91 years old. 5
Activism
Environmentalism
During the later portion of her career, Goodall became a professional activist, pushing a left-of-center advocacy agenda targeted at fighting climate change. After attending an academic conference in 1986, Goodall claimed she became “a different person,” leaving her scientific career to fight climate change. 11 Goodall previously claimed that climate change is an “existential threat to humankind,” arguing that without major change, it will cause the end of humanity. 12
Goodall argued that climate change cannot be solved without addressing inequality and “eradicating” poverty, claiming that one of the major contributors to climate change is the fact that “millions of people on this planet have way more than they need.” 7 13 Goodall also advocated for “family planning” and voluntary population control as a way of containing population growth. 12
Aside from recommending a shift towards modest living, Goodall promoted environmental regulations, decrying American leaders for rolling back environmental regulations and promoting the interests of conventional energy companies. 14 Goodall compared President Donald Trump to a chimpanzee in 2017 and saying she will fight until her death to oppose his policies. 1 15
Goodall argued that man-made climate change was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, citing conditions like deforestation and the “disrespect of animals” through industrial agriculture. 14 Goodall further used the COVID-19 pandemic to argue that the world should create a “green economy” to prevent the onset of another contagious disease outbreak. 16 Goodall joined with other environmentalists during the pandemic to push such policies, including writing a letter demanding that banks and the International Monetary Fund stop funding large scale animal agriculture. 17
In January 2020, Goodall spoke at the annual World Economic Forum Conference in Davos, Switzerland wherew she discussed the increase in human population and how it related to world environmental issues. She argued, “We cannot hide away from human population growth. Because, you know, it underlies so many of the other problems. All these things we talk about wouldn’t be a problem if there was the size of population that there was 500 years ago.” 18 19 However, a Tweet posted on August 12, 2023 by media group Wide Awake Media incorrectly claimed that Goodall was advocating for reducing the human population to its level from 500 years ago, or misleadingly stating that she was in favor of, “reducing the global population down to 450 million—a 95% reduction from today’s population.” 18 A Twitter Context correction was later attached to the tweet by the website stating that Goodall was not advocating, “for reduced human population, or to reduce it to a specific previous number. Instead, she is pointing out the consequences of population growth on environmental sustainability.” 1819
Animal Rights
In 2015, Goodall argued that SeaWorld should be shut down and claimed that its conditions created an “acoustical hell” for its animals, despite other scientists disputing the claim. 20 In 2018, Goodall worked with left-of-center environmental law firm Earthjustice to prevent grizzly bear hunting in Wyoming and Idaho by returning the animals to the endangered species list. 21
Goodall previously critiqued scientists for using animals in research, partnering with various left-of-center animal rights organizations to decry the use of animals in testing for vaccines and research in neuroscience. 22
The Nonhuman Rights Project
In 2007, Goodall became a founding board member of the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), an animal activist organization. 23 4 Aside from advocating animal-rights agendas including promoting vegetarianism and advocating for increased environmental protections, NhRP also argued for granting animals such as great apes, elephants, dolphins, and whales the status of “legal personhood.” This designation would give such animals legal rights similar or equivalent to those of people. 4 The group organizes legislative campaigns and litigation on behalf of animals, filing habeas corpus lawsuits to free animals from captivity out of “respect for their rights.” 24
In the United States, NhRP has filed several lawsuits securing habeas corpus hearings for four chimpanzees and four elephants. 25 NhRP has aimed to have New York judges rule in favor of recognizing chimpanzees and elephants as legal persons entitled to liberty, which would disallow their being kept by zoos or for research purposes. 25 Goodall provided affidavits in these cases in support of establishing legal personhood for animals. 26
Controversy
In 2013, the Washington Post alleged that Goodall had plagiarized passages of her book Seeds of Hope from Wikipedia and other sources. 27 Goodall excused the error as the result of “not methodical enough” note-taking while writing the book. 27
Goodall was also criticized for advocating against the consumption of genetically modified foods, arguing that genetic modification is “not good science” while claiming the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had suppressed information about genetically modified foods being unsafe. 28