Why the Jane Goodall Cohort?

At the start of their Honours Programme in April 2023, this group of students chose to go by the name of Jane Goodall.

Dr Jane Goodall (1934) is a renowned British ethologist and conservationist best known for pioneering research on wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. She discovered that chimpanzees use tools and have complex emotions and social behaviors, reshaping our understanding of the relationship between humans and other animals. Goodall has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2002, and she is a leading global advocate for conservation, animal welfare, and environmental education. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. in January 2025, America’s highest civilian honour - in recognition of her contributions to science and decades of advocacy in global conservation.

She founded the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots program, a youth program active in over 60 countries that empowers young people to bring about positive change in their communities—something we hope will also resonate with and inspire the students of the Goodall cohort.