City of Science: Jane Goodall and Her Legacy
CUNY scholars examine Goodall's six decades of chimpanzee research, her conservation legacy, and contemporary debates about great ape rights.
Why we picked this
Goodall's death in 2025 closed a chapter in primatology that reshaped how we think about what separates us from other species — this panel takes stock of what her work actually changed.
Following Jane Goodall’s passing in 2025, CUNY scholars convene to assess the full arc of her scientific legacy. The panel goes beyond biography to examine what six decades of wild chimpanzee observation actually revealed about cognition, social behavior, and tool use — and what questions remain open.
Panelists Kristen Andrews, David Lahti, and Jessica Rothman bring perspectives from philosophy of mind, behavioral ecology, and nutritional ecology. The conversation also addresses the growing movement for legal personhood and rights for great apes, a direct intellectual descendant of Goodall’s insistence that the boundary between human and animal was thinner than we assumed.
Free and open to the public, with in-person and virtual attendance options.