Noted chimpanzee researcher on Cape for youth program

By K.C. MYERS
STAFF WRITER
MASHPEE - Being Jane Goodall means nearly missing planes because so many people stop to talk to you.

Even with dark glasses, which the eminent chimpanzee researcher has been wearing for two months due to a bad case of conjunctivitis, people stop her everywhere she goes.

"They ask me if I'm me," she laughed. "They ask me if I saw 'Gorillas in the Mist.' It amazes me. If it's a child, I'll look behind me and they'll be jumping up and down and just beaming."

Goodall, who became the first person in the world to investigate chimpanzees in their own environment in the 1960s, doesn't seem to mind the fame.

In fact, her fame has become a huge asset as she raises money for three orphan chimpanzee sanctuaries in Africa on a tireless, 300-days-a-year lecture schedule.

Goodall appeared at Camp Farley in Mashpee yesterday to meet with 100 students from the youth group, Roots & Shoots, which she founded in Tanzania in 1991. The students came from all over the United States for a five-day youth summit to discuss environmental and peace activism - and to meet "Dr. Jane."

"People ask me where I get my energy," Goodall told the young activists in her soft, British accent. "It's mostly from the stories I've heard from people like you all over the world. Young people who stand up and speak out even when they live under oppressive regimes, and people who speak out of the courage of their convictions."

Most of the students at the conference heard about her from elementary and middle school teachers. These teens have shaped their lives around the environmental activism.

"In first grade I saw her speak," said Alessandra Phelan-Roberts, a high schooler from Oakland, Calif. "In third grade I started reading all her books."

Today, Phelan-Roberts volunteers at the Oakland Zoo and leads a local Roots & Shoots chapter.

"I first heard about her in sixth grade," said Jessica Rimmington, a Cape Cod Academy student. "I remember, she said that every individual does make a difference. Just as my activism can have a positive impact, my inaction can have a negative impact. That's what really inspired me."

Goodall, 70, appears as thin and nearly as fit as she did when first on the cover of National Geographic in 1965.

Despite years of celebrity status, Goodall remains down-to-earth. She carried her stuffed ape, Mr. H (which stands for Hope) as she talked to the press. She explained to the students that her family had no money to send her to a university, but she never gave up her Dr. Doolittle-inspired dream to go and live with animals in Africa.

The British native got the opportunity to study with Louis Leakey, an anthropologist and paleontologist, in Africa when she was 26. After spending five years in the Tanzanian forest with the apes, she was invited to Cambridge University to work toward a Ph.D. in ethology.

"I had no idea what ethology was," she said.

Since 1986, the bulk of Goodall's work has been lecturing to raise money and awareness for chimpanzees and their protection. Founding Roots & Shoots enabled her to nurture young activists.

(Published: May 5, 2004)