Jane Goodall

Last night Jordan and I went to a lecture given by Jane Goodall in Salt Lake. Her lecture was entitled "Peace With Nature". I've always wanted to hear her speak, so it was really exciting for me to be able to go. I think she is so amazing; she's in her mid 70's and still travels over 300 days a year, giving lectures, working in third world countries, and teaching children about the environment. Jane brought "Mr. H" with her, a stuffed monkey that has been traveling with her for the past 10 or so years. Mr. H was given to her by a friend who lost his sight while serving in the military, but then went on to become an amazing magician, sky diver ("how can you be afraid if you can't see the ground?"), cross country skiier, and scuba diver. She said over 300 million people have touched Mr. H! The inspiration is supposed to brush off when you touch him.

Anyway, in her lecture, Jane told a few stories about her experiences with chimps and their compassionate, often human-like behavior, then talked about how, to have peace with each other, we need to conserve our natural resources. But how can we expect people to take care of the environment if they are too poor to live themselves? She told us about some successful projects where indigenous peoples have learned to farm and work in sustainable ways, and in the end its a win-win-win situation for them , the wildlife and land, and the consumers of their products. She also talked about her Roots and Shoots program, which is a youth-driven international organization that focuses on helping people, animals, and the environment. She explained how children are our future, and there are very many reasons for hope, even though things might seem discouraging. It was all very inspirational. There was a 9-year old boy in the audience who had been studying chimpanzees for school, and signed up at Jane Goodall's website to be a "chimpanzee guardian". He rasied $70 on his own to donate to the Jane Goodall Institute, then for his birthday asked for donations instead of gifts from his friends. He ended up raising over $500, and presented it to Dr. Goodall last night. It was really cute.
I recorded the lecture on my mp3 player, and thought it would be cool to post it here, but I can't figure out how to. I wish I could, because it was such a good lecture. Anyway, it was a very fun night, and it was good to be able to catch a glimpse of the conservation vision again after it being somewhat obscured by grant writing, paper reading, and all the academic bureaucracy of grad school.