Essay On Jane Goodall Is A Modern Day Hero

Student Name

Ms.Tollett

1st Block

14 March 2021

Jane Goodall; a modern day hero There are a lot of people who are changing the world in a positive way, but one of the best examples of a modern day hero is Jane Goodall. Goodall is a primatologist and environmentalist who worked in the Gombe Stream Reserve in Africa for more than twenty five years studying the behavior of the local chimpanzees. Goodall is a modern day hero because of her work to build a greater relationship between humans and animals, her efforts to protect chimpanzees, her work as a conservative to improve the environment and small communities by reeducating them to find a more environmentally safe approach to agriculture, and by founding many different organizations that

Born in london on April 3rd, 1934, Goodall’s ordinary world was no different from any other kid’s. Growing up she developed an interest in animals from an early age. Her dream of living in Africa was inspired from her favorite books Dr. Doolittle and Tarzan (Jordan). Just like Tarzan, she wanted to live among the apes. During her childhood, she spent most of her days outside, and even created a nature themed club, The Alligator Club, at the age twelve. In 1955 while visiting one of her friends in Africa, Goodall met who would be her mentor, Louis Leakey. Leakey saw great potential in Goodall and “was impressed by the young woman he met: not only by her enthusiasm, but also by how much she knew about natural history” (“Jane Goodall”). Leakey was a paleontologist and anthropologist who provided Goodall with a job working alongside him for several years. In 1960 he had raised enough money for a research trip in the Gombe River Stream. He appointed Goodall to lead the trip. To Leakey, Goodall was the perfect candidate required for the

Studying chimpanzees in their natural habitat was a time consuming job. When she arrived at the reserve, for the first few months the chimps ran away whenever they saw her (“Jane Goodall”). She spent everyday trying to build a stronger bond between her and the chimpanzees. It wasn’t until two years later that they fully accepted her. Another challenge that she faced was criticism. During the time Goodall was researching, “[she] was one of the few women in a field dominated by men. Almost all of her professors were male, and eventually, some writers would attribute Goodall’s revolutionary perspective to the fact that she is a female” (January 61). She was highly criticized by not only other scientists, but the world, because she was a female. However, the criticisms did not end there. She was also questioned about naming the animals she was studying. Instead of her naming them as a sigh of friendship or respect, other scientists thought this was a sign that she developed an anthropomorphic attachment to