Primatologist Jane Goodall will discuss the highlights of more than 45 years of research on the family and social life of chimpanzees in Tanzania as the featured speaker for the annual free Lane Family Lecture in Environmental Sciences,
7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 8, in Beasley coliseum.
“Reason for Hope” will address a variety of environmental crises and her reasons for hope that humans will solve the problems they have imposed on the earth. Following her remarks, Goodall will sign copies of her books.
Goodall, 72, began her landmark study of chimpanzees in Tanzania in June 1960, under the mentorship of anthropologist and paleontologist Louis Leakey. She established the Gombe Stream Research Center in 1965. Under the stewardship of Tanzanian field staff and other researchers, it continues her work today, making it one of the longest uninterrupted wildlife studies in existence.
In 1977, Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which supports the Gombe work and other research, education and conservation, and development programs. These include community-centered conservation efforts in Africa that provide local people with tools to build sustainable livelihoods while promoting regional conservation goals such as reforestation and an end to the illegal commercial bushmeat trade.
Goodall has received scores of honors, including the UNESCO Gold Medal and the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence. In April 2002 Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed her to serve as a United Nations “Messenger of Peace.” In 2004, Prince Charles invested Goodall as a Dame of the British Empire, the female equivalent of knighthood.
The Lane lecture is endowed by a gift from the former publisher of Sunset magazine and numerous books and films, L.W. “Bill” Lane, and his wife, Jean.
