British conservationist and animal researcher Jane Goodall died of natural causes on Wednesday (October 1), the Jane Goodall Institute announced. According to the institute, Goodall was in California on a US speaking tour. Here is what to know about the pioneering ethologist and environmental activist. Who was Jane Goodall? An English primatologist and anthropologist, Goodall was regarded as one of the world's foremost experts on chimpanzees. Drawn to animals since childhood, in the 1960, without any academic training in the area, Goodall travelled to explore the forests of Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to observe chimpanzees in the wild. She named them instead of following the norm of numbering them, and made numerous observations that questioned prevalent beliefs about the apes, asserting that chimpanzees too were capable of social interactions. In Public Service Broadcasting's 1996 nature programme Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees, she noted it wasn't only humans who have personalities and are capable of rational thought and emotions like joy and sorrow. In 1962, without a bachelor's degree, she was allowed to enroll at the University of Cambridge to pursue a PhD in ethology. She completed her thesis in 1966 on the subject Behaviour of free-living chimpanzees, that included observations made during her initial study at the Gombe Reserve. The discoveries drastically changed the way the animals were studied and revealed close evolutionary relationship between chimpanzees and humans. In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), a global wildlife and environment conservation organisation that supports wildlife research and education, and protects chimpanzees and other primates by supporting sanctuaries and law enforcement efforts. Credited with noticing human-like behaviours amongst chimpanzees, Goodall was also the UN Messenger of Peace and honorary member of the World Future Council. Barbie doll modelled on her In 2022, Mattel launched a new Barbie doll modelled after Jane Goodall ahead of World Chimpanzee Day. The Goodall doll is made from 75 per cent recycled ocean-bound plastic, in keeping with the ethologist's focus on protecting the environment. Dressed in field attire and equipped with a pair of binoculars and notebook, the Barbie launched as part of the "Inspiring Women" series was accompanied by Goodall’s most well-known research subject, David Graybeard, a grey-chinned chimpanzee who she first began interacting with after she went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960. She welcomed the announcement and said, "Girls don't want just to be film stars and things like that; but many of them, like me, want to be out in nature studying animals. And so a Barbie doll who's Jane is a super idea." She notes how once you get out into nature, you are fascinated and want to learn about it and protect it. This is an updated version of an explainer first published in July 2022
