Dr. Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and conservationist, passed away yesterday at the age of 91.

From a young age, she was fascinated by animals, dreaming of living in Africa and studying wildlife. In 1960, without formal scientific training, she traveled to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to observe wild chimpanzees under the mentorship of anthropologist Louis Leakey. Her discoveries revealed astonishing behaviors: chimpanzees use tools, show emotions, and live in complex social groups.

She later earned a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, becoming one of the few people at the time to do so without an undergraduate degree. Over the decades, Dr. Goodall shifted her focus from observation to global advocacy, raising awareness about habitat destruction, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute and created Roots & Shoots, a program that empowers young people to address environmental and humanitarian issues.

She has traveled the world, inspiring audiences with her message of hope, responsibility, and respect for all living beings.

My favorite quotations from Dr. Jane Goodall:

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

The greatest danger to our future is apathy.

Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.

Hope is what enables us to keep going in the face of adversity. It is what keeps us motivated.

The least I can do is help people see the interconnectedness of all life.

Chimps, more like us than any other creature, have helped us to understand what it means to be human.

You cannot share your life with a dog or a cat and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings.

My mission is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature.

We still have a window of time. Nature is amazingly resilient. If we give her a chance, she will recover.