# Jane Goodall on Reddit (u/janegoodall_official)

Part of Celebrities on Reddit, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-06. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/celebrities-on-reddit/jane-goodall

Jane Goodall: Primatologist who studied wild chimpanzees in Gombe.

- Reddit account: [u/janegoodall_official](https://www.reddit.com/user/janegoodall_official/) (AMA only)
- How we know it's theirs: [Her 2017 r/IAmA AMA, posted from this account](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6zvwqe/i_am_dr_jane_goodall_a_scientist_conservationist/)
- Where they post, in the records we retrieved: r/IAmA (23)
- Known activity in the posts we found: 2017 to 2017
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall

## Moments

### u/janegoodall_official in r/IAmA, Sep 13, 2017 · Personal story

Replying to a redditor:

> Hi Dr. Goodall! What was the pivotal point in your career where you decided that you absolutely wanted to study primates in the field? What were the reactions of your peers?

> Well, I first decided I wanted to go to Africa and live with animals and write books about them when I was ten years old. And everybody laughed at me, how could I do that, Africa is so far away. In World War II we had very little money. I was simply a girl. They told me girl students cannot do that. But I had a wonderful mother who had supported my love of animals ever since I was born, and she said to me if you really want to do this, then you're going to have to work very hard and take advantage of opportunity. That's the message I take to young people all around the world today, especially to those in under served communities.

(Excerpt.)
Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6zvwqe/i_am_dr_jane_goodall_a_scientist_conservationist/dmyh1sy/ · 4,834 points as of Nov 6, 2026

### u/janegoodall_official in r/IAmA, Sep 13, 2017 · AMA answer

Replying to a redditor:

> What was the most surprising thing you found while studying the similarities between chimpanzees and humans?

> I'm not sure about the most surprising, but the most shocking was the fact they are capable of war. This was very horrifying and actually made them more like humans than I thought they were before.

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6zvwqe/i_am_dr_jane_goodall_a_scientist_conservationist/dmyfmvw/ · 3,358 points as of Nov 6, 2026

### u/janegoodall_official in r/IAmA, Sep 13, 2017 · Behind the scenes

Replying to a redditor:

> What would you say was the biggest highlight of your career?

> Well, one highlight that really enabled my career to take off was discovering the chimpanzees used twigs and the brush to find termites in the underground nest because that is what went into "National Geographic," which ended up providing funds for me to continue my research. So in a way, that was the pivotal observation that actually enabled everything else.

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6zvwqe/i_am_dr_jane_goodall_a_scientist_conservationist/dmyfxbu/ · 4,181 points as of Nov 6, 2026