April 6, 2004

Scripps Nierenberg Prize Awarded To
Renowned Primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall
Annual award recognizes science in the public interest

By Jessica Demian

The fourth annual award honoring the memory of William A. Nierenberg,
who led Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, as director for
more than two decades, will be awarded to celebrated primatologist
Dr. Jane Goodall.

Goodall will receive the Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest during a ceremony on Friday, April 30, at 7:15 p.m. in front of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Goodall will be presented with a
medal and $25,000. The award ceremony will be followed by "Reasons for Hope," a free public presentation and a book signing with
Goodall.

"Jane Goodall has devoted her life to studying and caring for chimpanzees and to raising our awareness of the connectedness of all living things," said Scripps Director Charles Kennel. "Her awe-inspiring half century of work as a scientist, and her vision of the future as a U.N. Messenger of Peace, make her an ideal recipient of the Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest."

Goodall's work in East Africa redefined the relationship between
humans and animals, and her revolutionary research lent great insight
into the evolutionary past of humans. Under the mentorship of
anthropologist and paleontologist Dr. Louis Leakey, Goodall traveled
to Tanzania, Africa in 1960 to begin studying wild chimpanzees at the
Gombe Stream Reserve.

Within her first year in Gombe, Goodall made several important
findings. She discovered that chimps, previously thought to be
vegetarians, were meat eaters. Most importantly, Goodall witnessed
their ability to make tools-challenging the belief that this behavior
distinguished humans from animals. Goodall documented the social
organization of chimps in the wild, defying scientific standards by
giving the chimps names instead of numbers. She revealed
chimpanzees' complex social behavior and hierarchy, and later made
the unsettling discovery that chimpanzees engage in primitive and
brutal warfare.

In 1965 Goodall earned her Ph.D. in ethology (the study of animal
behavior) from England's Cambridge University. Soon thereafter, she
returned to Tanzania and founded the Gombe Stream Research Centre.
Today a skilled team of researchers and field assistants, including
many Tanzanians, continue Dr. Goodall's research at the Centre, which
also is a training ground for primatology students.

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."

In April 2002, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan named
Goodall a United Nations "Messenger of Peace." U.N. Messengers help
mobilize the public to become involved in work that makes the world a
better place. In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II named Dr. Goodall a Dame of
the British Empire, the female equivalent of knighthood. Goodall has
received countless awards and honors, including the Medal of
Tanzania, the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal, Japan's
prestigious Kyoto Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical
and Scientific Research 2003, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life
Science, and the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence.

Goodall's work has captured the hearts and attention of the public,
allowing people worldwide to explore and discover the mysterious
world of chimpanzees.

The Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest is named for
William Nierenberg (1919-2000), a renowned national science leader,
who served Scripps Institution as director from 1965 to 1986. The
recipient of numerous awards and honors for professional research and
public service, Nierenberg was widely known for a long record of
national and international service. He served on various panels of
the Presidents' Science Advisory Committee. A leading expert in
several fields of underwater research and warfare, Nierenberg was
also known for his work in low-energy nuclear physics. Past winners
of the prize include Jane Lubchenco, Walter Cronkite, and E.O. Wilson.
Seating for the presentation is limited and will be available on a
first come, first served basis.

For more information about Jane Goodall and the Jane Goodall
Institute, please visit www.janegoodall.org

Media Contacts: Jessica Demian or Mario Aguilera (858) 534-3624