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Jane Goodall was fascinated with animals from a young age. Born in 1934 in London, England, Goodall spent her young years taking notes in nature, dreaming of one day traveling to Africa to do much of the same. Eventually her passion led her, through a family friend, to Tanzania in the late 1950s. Despite lacking any formal scientific credentials, she began working with renowned paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. In 1960, Goodall established her own site in Gombe Stream Game Reserve (now Gombe Stream National Park) to begin her groundbreaking research on wild chimpanzees.

Goodall’s patient observations over the course of years revealed stunning insights, including the discovery that chimpanzees not only use tools, but make them — a behavior previously thought to be exclusive to humans. Her television documentary Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees (1965) as well as her book In the Shadow of Man (1971) made her a household name and helped bridge the gap between science and popular appeal. Over the years, Goodall transitioned from scientist to advocate, founding the Jane Goodall Institute and championing wildlife conservation and sustainable living around the world.