Primatologist Jane Goodall To Honor
UC San Diego Sustainability Initiatives

March 25, 2008

By Christine Clark

World-renowned primatologist and United Nations Messenger of Peace, Jane Goodall, will visit the University of California, San Diego for a public tree-planting ceremony at 10:20 a.m. April 1, followed by a luncheon at 10:45 a.m. to honor UC San Diego’s sustainability initiatives.

Jane Goodall will participate in a public tree planting ceremony April 1.

At the ticketed luncheon, Goodall will recognize 12 UC San Diego community-service based student organizations, such as One Earth One Justice, the Urban Studies and Planning Club, the Arusha Project and Alternative Breaks. The organizations have all demonstrated a commitment to the environment and social justice. Three of the student groups will be especially honored with awards presented by Goodall.

Environment and Sustainability Initiative (ESI) Executive Director Lisa Shaffer will give remarks at the tree planting ceremony. She noted that Goodall’s message and commitment to the environment and sustainability is a great connection to the overall work and history of UC San Diego.

“Jane Goodall has always been an inspiration,” Shaffer said. “Her impact is part of the reason why our students are so motivated. Her work with primates, conservation and her experience educating children about the wonders of nature is an extremely valuable contribution to long-term sustainability.”

Goodall’s appearance is hosted by the UC San Diego International House, members of the Associated Students, including Senator Kenneth Wong and the UC San Diego student group, Roots & Shoots. Roots & Shoots is an international program sponsored by the Jane Goodall Institute designed to promote positive change for communities, animals and the environment. The Roots & Shoots network has tens of thousands of young people in almost 100 countries. The network aims to help young people implement successful community service projects and participate in special events and global campaigns.

Joshua Wickerham is the president and founder of the Roots & Shoots student organization at UC San Diego and helped spearhead Goodall’s appearance. Wickerham is a graduate student in the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) who founded the organization at UC San Diego last spring after interning for the Roots & Shoots branch in Shanghai, China.

“I was really inspired by the young people I worked with at the Shanghai branch,” Wickerham said. “When I got to UC San Diego, I realized that we had a relationship with Jane Goodall because she won the Scripps Nierenberg Prize in 2004 and I wanted to get our college students involved with Roots & Shoots activities.”

Students at UC San Diego involved in Roots & Shoots have on-campus initiatives and volunteer as mentors at Gompers Charter Middle School. Wickerham said the volunteer mentoring program is essential to Roots & Shoots’ outreach efforts, but he would like the organization to take on new projects next year, such as maintaining an organic garden on campus.

Through his involvement with Roots & Shoots, Wickerham has had the opportunity to meet and interview Goodall on several occasions. “She really surpasses my expectations,” he said. “She is tireless promoter of Roots & Shoots and she truly embodies those ideals of peace, environmentalism and care for animals and the community.”

Goodall won the Scripps Nierenberg Prize in 2004.

Goodall traveled to Tanzania, Africa in 1960 to begin studying wild chimpanzees at the Gombe Stream Reserve and her work in East Africa redefined the relationship between humans and animals. She documented the social organization of chimps in the wild and revealed chimpanzees' complex social behavior and hierarchy and later made the unsettling discovery that chimpanzees engage in primitive and brutal warfare. Her work made great insight into the evolutionary past of humans.

In 1977, Goodall created the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), a global nonprofit  that has helped establish a worldwide network of  individuals committed to improving life on Earth. Through research, conservation, and education programs, JGI is "creating healthy ecosystems, promoting sustainable livelihoods and nurturing new generations of committed, active citizens around the world."

Wickerham has taken this year off from IR/PS to work in Beijing as the coordinator of Chinese affairs for a global think tank, but will be in San Diego for Goodall’s appearance. “I hope this event helps grow Roots & Shoots at UC San Diego, but we also want to have a good time,” he said. “I am looking forward to hearing Jane speak because it is always inspiring to hear someone who you admire speak from the heart.”

Media Contact: Christine Clark, 858-534-7618