“We can only achieve our true human potential when head and heart are in harmony”—this has always been Dr. Jane Goodall’s approach to using science for conservation. The way that Jane and The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) tell stories is meant to connect to the hearts of our audiences, but we need scientific data to connect to minds and support important decisions. JGI’s Science Platform combines citizen science, expert observations and data, and modeling and analysis to drive sustainable conservation decision-making that benefits humans, wildlife, and ecosystems. Our conservation science team makes the best possible use of existing and emerging…
Author: Ashley Sullivan
Ashley Sullivan
Ashley Sullivan is the Director of Storytelling & Marketing for Communications & Partnerships at the Jane Goodall Institute USA, where she works to connect individuals with Dr. Jane Goodall's vision, and the JGI mission to create a better world for all by protecting the interconnections between people, other animals, and the environment. Ashley graduated Stony Brook University with a Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology and a minor in Biology, and is pursuing a Master's of Science in Environmental Science & Policy at Johns Hopkins University with a focus on Environmental Justice. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, now a D.C. resident, she has a varied background including 10+ years of expert communications and digital marketing in the social and environmental non-profit sector. Her intersectional approach to this work has been shaped by a holistic world-view, having traveled to Madagascar and Ecuador for conservation research projects, leading communications for youth social justice filmmaking organizations, and as a part of several professional groups advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in environmental spaces including Greens REALIGN. With skills ranging from conservation fieldwork, policy and advocacy campaigns, strategic communications, art, digital media, and design, Ashley believes in sharing information to empower and in the magic of storytelling to transform hearts and minds. Through growing understanding, empathy, and justice, she is igniting positive change to create that better, more equitable world, every day.
On July 14, 1960, Dr. Jane Goodall—at the time, just Jane Goodall—stepped foot in what is now Gombe, Tanzania to begin her groundbreaking research into wild chimpanzee behavior. Today, research continues as part of the longest-running wild chimpanzee study in the world. Individual and group behavior at Gombe are closely tracked among two chimpanzee communities: Mitumba and Kasekela. Monthly focal follows occur on an uninterrupted basis according to the model Dr. Goodall began over 60 years ago, in which staff typically spend eight or more hours tracking individual chimpanzees within two separate communities until the animals nest at night. While…
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Deforestation is a major threat that is driving both the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. It also threatens millions of people who depend upon vital natural resources and ecosystem services. As the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) works to ensure a sustainable and equitable future for our planet and all life on it, we are focusing on nature-based greenhouse gas mitigation and locally-led ecological restoration/reforestation efforts, proactive advocacy, preventative programs, and adaptive strategies for ecosystems. Just one piece of this strategy is our Village Forest Monitor program. Through this program, locally-elected village forest monitors (VFMs) in Western Tanzania are trained by…
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Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots youth program, created by Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), and UN Messenger of Peace will be supported by a new initiative and partnership in alignment with Toyota Motor North America’s sustainability goals. Since 1991, Roots & Shoots, a core program of the Jane Goodall Institute, has fostered millions of inspiring changemakers and exists in all 50 states and over 65 countries worldwide. The exciting and expansive partnership will focus on growing engagement in local communities around several of Toyota’s manufacturing plants and promote the roll-out of Roots & Shoots youth…
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Across the United States and around the world, human existence is tightly bound to the ecosystems upon which we all rely. As we face the injustices and inequities that harm human communities – and disproportionately negatively impact people of color – we recognize the ways in which our relationship with the natural world is at the core of the way in which we treat each other and our water, air, and lands. Dr. Goodall has always shared that only when heart and mind work together, can we reach our true potential. Using tremendous commitment, community, and creativity, these changemakers have…
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The JGI Landscape Conservation in Western Tanzania (LCWT) initiative funded by USAID that uses our Tacare approach of community-led conservation has had a tremendous impact on Neema Elias, a 33-year-old mother of three. In 2018, when LCWT began working in Katumba Settlement, Neema joined a COCOBA—a community conservation banking group supported by JGI. She immediately began benefiting from the microcredit sustainability-focused loans, working to provide for her family. She then learned how to build and market fuel-efficient stoves with training from JGI and continues to build and sell these stoves to other households. These stoves reduce the amount of wood…
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The Jane Goodall Institute’s (JGI) Roots & Shoots youth program is the recipient of a three-year, $1.6 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to foster the development of compassion and action in one million youth across countries in Africa. The award will empower young people to address issues in their communities facing people, other animals, and their environment. Building on JGI’s relationship with the Templeton Foundation – as Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace was named the 2021 Templeton Prize Laureate – this new grant demonstrates a deepening partnership to…
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Barbie’s Inspiring Women Series™ pays tribute to incredible heroines of their time; courageous women who took risks, changed rules, and paved the way for generations to dream bigger than ever before. This year, for World Chimpanzee Day on July 14th, Barbie is recognizing renowned ethologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall with the first ever Inspiring Women doll made from recycled ocean bound plastic and certified CarbonNeutral created in partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI). JANE GOODALL BARBIE + ECO-LEADERSHIP TEAM This year, in continued collaboration with Dr. Jane Goodall and in tribute to her contributions to conservation, Barbie is…
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The Jane Goodall Institute is proud to announce a new partnership between our Roots & Shoots youth program and the Children & Nature Network! These two programs – committed to the well-being of children and the natural world – are collaborating on a national partnership that will engage and grow a strong network of young nature connection leaders across the U.S. The partnership will kickoff in the Fall of 2022 across shared hub cities including Atlanta, Georgia, Los Angeles, California, and beyond. To start the important conversation about getting young people reconnected to the natural world, Dr. Goodall (virtually from…
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Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace shares her message for Earth Day 2022. As we face existential crises, Jane shares her deep commitment to the power of hope and all we can do as individuals and collectively to make a difference for people, other animals, and the planet we share. Today and every day, let us rebuild our connections to the natural world – for as Jane shares – we are a part of it and have a responsibility to protect it.
