Jane

20 x 16 inch portrait of Dr. Jane Goodall, primatologist, anthropologist, environmentalist and humanist...and my personal hero who inspired me when I was becoming a wildlife biologist.

I worked as an intern in Jane's ChimpanZoo Program when I was in college in the early 1990s. ChimpanZoo was established in 1984 as a collective effort between the Jane Goodall Institute, zoological facilities and universities. Their mission is to apply uniform research methods to learn more about chimpanzees and their psychological and behavioral responses to a captive environment. The program began by linking five zoos and the Central Washington University Language Laboratory, home to the study of chimpanzee communication through the use of American Sign Language (ASL).

As of 1990, twelve zoological facilities were starting programs and becoming contributing members of the Jane Goodall Institute ChimpanZoo program. One of those was Lion Country Safari in Palm Beach County, Florida, where I did my internship. I would drive into the free range zoo to the chimp islands (surrounded by moats), and sit on top of my car and record their behavior on my laptop. I became particularly attached to a chimp named Peter.

A standardized research procedure was successfully developed and the methodology for the ChimpanZoo data collection system was tested in several different environments with modifications made to achieve the highest quality of data. Each member facility established a ChimpanZoo "team" that consisted of volunteers, zoo administrators, and students. Academic advisors supervise the program to ensure the integrity of the ChimpanZoo methodology and the reliability of data collection. The resulting ChimpanZoo academic applications serve to improve our understanding of higher apes (including humans) in captive environments and help promote psychological well-being through enrichment activities.

This is a limited edition of 50 giclees printed on Somerset Velvet fine art paper with a two inch border, signed and numbered.

50% of proceeds of each print will be donated to the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research and Conservation. Your gift will help "drive their impactful community-led conservation work to protect endangered chimpanzees and other great apes, restore and grow critical habitat, improve human well-being, and empower the next generation of changemakers through Roots & Shoots."

You can read more about the organization on their website at https://janegoodall.org/.