Reflecting on the impact of Dr. Jane Goodall with the NCCR community
On October 1st, 2025, Dr. Jane Goodall passed. Her contributions throughout her long life transformed the field of primatology and reshaped the way we understand humans within the animal kingdom. As we explore the evolution of language and its origins, and draw comparisons across species, it is clear how our current research was made possible by the paradigm shift she initiated.
Here, the members of the NCCR Evolving Language reflect on the impact Dr. Goodall has had, and continues to have, on their work and lives.
Jane Goodall in Gombe National Park © Jane Goodall Institute
Patient observations in immersion
Born in 1934 in London, Jane Goodall had been fascinated by animals and their behaviours from a very young age. In an interview with the Guardian (2023), she remembered that from the age of 10, she dreamed of living with animals and writing books.
In her 20s, Goodall travelled to Africa and began to work as a secretary under the archaeologist and paleontologist Louis Leakey. Leakey was convinced that studying great apes, like chimpanzees, could give insight into the behaviours of early humans. Like this, and despite no formal scientific background, Goodall started her lifelong observation of chimpanzees in the wild.
Deep in the forest of the Gombe Stream National Park, Goodall sat for hours at once, observing the chimpanzees’ interactions and behaviours. To record her observations, instead of using numbers to identify the individuals, as was common in field research, she gave each of the chimpanzees a name. And what she saw challenged previous beliefs.
A revolution in the scientific world
During the studies she conducted on the field, Jane Goodall saw that the chimpanzees were omnivores that organized themselves to hunt. She also saw them make and use tools, a feature thought to be unique to humans.
Goodall’s work was a steppingstone to show that humans were not separate from the rest of the animal kingdom. Just like us, chimpanzees, as well as other animals as proven in the following years, have complex social and communication systems. As Goodall shared with the BBC (2025), the behaviours that we can see in humans and in chimps today were probably also there in a common ancestor: we can therefore imagine early humans having friendly relationships between family members, embracing one another and using twigs to feed.
Though some practices are no longer deemed appropriate in research, like touching or feeding the chimpanzees, her legacy in field methodology persists. In fact, many NCCR Evolving Language researcher’s work is deeply impacted by Jane Goodall’s discoveries and observational methods, as she laid the foundations for understanding primate behaviours and communication.
From researcher to activist
Jane Goodall was deeply committed to public outreach. Early on, she was joined on the field by Hugo van Lawick, a wildlife photographer and filmmaker for National Geographic, who documented her work with chimpanzees. Their collaboration resulted in a 1965 documentary narrated by George Orwell, which helped bring her research to a wider audience.
Throughout her career, Goodall wrote many books aimed at the lay public, making complex scientific ideas accessible and sparking interest in wildlife conservation. As she saw the growth of threats facing chimpanzees, such as critical habitat destruction due to deforestation and mistreatment in medical research facilities, she realized the need to raise awareness and take action.
In response, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) in 1977 to support conservation efforts and promote animal welfare. Later, in 1991, she launched the Roots & Shoots program, encouraging young people around the world to be agents of change by participating in projects that protect the environment, wildlife, or their communities. Using her voice and global platform, Jane Goodall became an advocate for protecting animals, peace, and living in harmony with nature.
