It looked like a rock star had come to Duke.
Throngs of students rushed onto the stage of Page Auditorium Tuesday to purchase books, T-shirts, tote bags and stuffed plush monkeys all because of their association with one person-Jane Goodall.
Goodall, well-known for her pioneering observations of chimpanzee behavior in the wild, spoke to a sold-out and attentive audience. Duke Performances sponsored the lecture, entitled "A Reason for Hope." Proceeds from the merchandise went to the Jane Goodall Institute and chimpanzee conservation efforts.
Goodall, a slight and soft-spoken Englishwoman who pulls her grey hair back in a utilitarian ponytail, kept the audience engaged through the hour-long lecture. The audience gave her a standing ovation before and after she spoke.
"It's impossible not to be touched by Jane Goodall's life story when it's so obviously been guided by compassion and hope," said Vanessa Barnett-Loro, a senior. "She sees clearly the gravity and global scale of the problems we all face and at the same time has such conviction in the power of individuals."
Freshman Anna Brown said she bought her ticket two months ago. Representatives of the University Box Office said the lecture had sold out by Oct. 1.
"It's an incredible opportunity to hear Dr. Goodall speak," Brown said. "She revolutionized behavioral science."
The audience contained a wide variety of demographics--students, Durham residents and even a fifth grade class that was studying primates.
"I am traveling more than 300 days a year," she told the assembled audience. "Since 1986, I haven't spent more than three weeks in one place."
Goodall gained recognition for her observations of chimpanzees in Tanzania beginning in 1960. She was not an expert-she didn't even have a college education. Despite her lack of academic credentials, what Goodall observed rethought how humanity defines itself in relation to the animal kingdom.
"I saw a dark shape hunched over a termite mound," she said. "I realized it was the male [chimpanzee] I had named David Greybeard. He broke off a twig, stripped it of leaves, and carefully pushed it into a tunnel of the mound. He withdrew it covered with termites and picked them off to eat."
David Greybeard had created and used a rudimentary tool, which at that point scientists thought only humans could accomplish.
When archaeologist Louis Leakey-whom Goodall was working for at the time-heard about her discovery, he sent her a telegram that read, "Now we must redefine tool, redefine man, or accept chimpanzees as human."
"We are different from the chimpanzees, though," Goodall said. "Chimps don't give lectures and build auditoriums."
Goodall discussed a number of issues concerning the future of the planet-climate change, the problems of mass food production, habitat destruction and the resulting loss of biodiversity, poverty and sickness.
Despite these problems, Goodall affirmed her belief in the "indomitable human spirit" and, in particular, advised young people to avoid feelings of helplessness or apathy.
"We are a problem-solving species, and we do well with our backs to the wall," she said. "We can do a lot if we roll up our sleeves and get involved as individuals."
After her work in Tanzania, Goodall returned to the United Kingdom to earn a Ph.D. in ethology at Cambridge University.
She is recognized as a United Nations Messenger for Peace and a Dame of the British Empire.
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