Farewell, Jane: Our Connection to the Trees

I remember learning about Jane Goodall in school during my first anthropology class. She was inspiring as both a woman and a citizen scientist—someone who proved that careful observation and genuine curiosity could revolutionize our understanding of the natural world.

Her thoughtful observations of chimpanzees led to an understanding of our relationship with nature and each other that wasn’t well known in the western world. She proved that empathy between species was not only possible but natural. Through her work, we came to see ourselves reflected in our closest relatives.

We share 98.8 percent of our genetics with chimpanzees. We are deeply connected. High in the canopy of trees, our chimp and ape ancestors still play today. It’s no wonder why we are intrinsically and biologically attracted to climb.

The opposable thumb—what would we be without it? Without the ability to grip, to hold, to grasp. We use tools, we use our thumbs on our tiny keyboards, texting and typing our way through modern life. But that same thumb evolved in the trees, allowing our ancestors to move through branches with precision and purpose.

Biologically, we are drawn to brachiate—to reach and elongate. It’s in our DNA, this urge to stretch upward, to swing, to climb. Our bodies remember the canopy.

Jane also revealed our need for touch, for belonging, and for compassion. Those chimps taught Jane, and Jane taught us, how to connect on an animal level—on a level that is primal and instinctive.

Touch and body language say everything without stating anything at all. They connect us to our ancestors in the trees. They connect us to ourselves and to each other.

Reach. Hold. Embrace.

This is the legacy Jane Goodall gave us: the reminder that we are not separate from nature, but woven into it. That our connections—to each other, to other species, to the earth itself—are ancient and essential.

Thank you, Jane, for showing us who we are.

— Lisa McCoy