Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall has left an impact on Drake University’s College of Arts and Sciences ever since her Bucksbaum Lecture at Drake University 20 years ago. On Oct. 1, Goodall died from natural causes at 91 years old. In the wake of her death, Environmental Science and Sustainability Department faculty and attendees of Goodall’s Bucksbaum lecture in 2005 reflected on her life.
Goodall’s rise to fame came from her work with chimpanzees, which challenged the traditional hands-off norms of animal research. Goodall’s studies revealed the complexities of chimpanzees’ social behavior. After reshaping the way primatology was studied, she became an activist for the protection of the environment and endangered species.
In her Bucksbaum Lecture, one of a Drake-organized series of lectures by influential people, Goodall discussed her history with chimpanzees, her advocacy for conservation and the impacts she believed the next generation could have on the environment.
“[Goodall’s 2005 Bucksbaum Lecture] was spectacular,” Professor of Environmental Science and Sustainability David Courard-Hauri said. “She did a book signing afterwards, and the line went out the door.”
Neil Hamilton, chairman of the Bucksbaum Lectureship in 2005, remembered the lecture being well-attended and estimated that around 2,500 to 3,000 people came that day. People from all around Des Moines showed up, including many students and Drake community members.
“From my standpoint as the chair of the committee, I had to ask myself if they did a good job,” Hamilton said. “Did we have a big crowd? Did people leave happy?”
From his perspective as chairman, Goodall was a respectable speaker who checked off all those boxes. Hamilton said Drake was proud to have her and would welcome her back in a heartbeat.
“She really spoke to a wide band of topics that were important then and still important today,” Hamilton said.
Along with sharing her research that revealed the behaviors of chimpanzees, Goodall spoke on the importance of youth advocacy during her lecture. She specifically brought up her Roots & Shoots program, which is a youth-led environmental and humanitarian program. She founded this program in 1991 to empower the youth to address conflict and take positive action.
Goodall built her foundation and revolutionized primatology through her long-term fieldwork. Her methods have been incorporated into teaching at Drake, Courard-Hauri said.
Environmental Science and Sustainability Professor Emeritus Michael Renner, whose hands-on research work with chimpanzees was similar to Goodall’s, has taught a variety of scientific courses at Drake. Several include studies of animal behavior, primatology and endangered species conservation.
From 2010 to 2024, Renner took annual trips to Gishwati Forest in Rwanda, typically traveling with Drake students for a week to a few weeks at a time. As a professor of animal behavior-related courses, Renner was asked to solve the mystery of why chimpanzees were leaving the Gishwati Forest to raid crop land. As it turns out, deforestation for agricultural purposes left the chimpanzees with insufficient forest, Renner said.
“You try to make sure the forest is supported in such a way that it can support a population of chimpanzees, and then that population is actually growing there,” Renner said. “There are now roughly three times as many as there were when we started the work.”
Renner emphasized the value of Goodall’s approach with animals, using her methods of habituation in his own work by describing the importance of getting on the ground to actually lay eyes on the chimpanzees.
“In Gishwati, there were teams of folk who went out every day and just spent time around the chimpanzees so that they could get habituated to the idea that there may be people around, but they aren’t going to hurt you,” Renner said.
Renner described Goodall as persistent, patient and quiet, all important qualities of stillness for this type of research. He also received a personal thank-you note from Goodall for his work, which he framed.
However, Renner believes Goodall’s impact on feminism might be more important than her work as a scientist.
“She broke ground as a female scientist in a world that didn’t welcome them,” Renner said. “She was successful and also didn’t just fit into the system and try to be a cog in the big machine.”
Many people refused to believe that Goodall’s work and expertise were legitimate, Hamilton explained. The sexism she faced as a working woman in the science industry provided a great barrier, but her groundbreaking discoveries about chimpanzees helped her overcome it, as her research altered the course of primatology and the capabilities of women in the workplace.
“Now,” Hamilton said, “I think her work is perceived as a gold standard of conservation with great apes.”
