Jane Goodall serves as an ‘inspiration’ to Iowa students, honored through scholarship since 2007 – KCRG
MILFORD, Iowa (KCRG) – Pioneering conservationist and primatologist Jane Goodall died Wednesday at the age of 91. She was in Los Angeles while on a U.S. speaking tour.
The humanitarian visited the University of Iowa’s Lakeside Laboratory on the banks of West Okoboji Lake in 2007 to speak about environmentalism and encourage young people to work to protect the environment.
The Friends of Lakeside Lab then established the Dr. Jane Goodall Endowed Scholarship Fund to commemorate Goodall’s visit and honor her work to protect wildlife.
For the past 18 years, the $600 scholarship has opened up opportunities for students to participate in the lab’s immersive outdoor classes. The lab welcomes students from state schools in Iowa and across the country and has provided classes and research opportunities since 1909.
According to the lab’s executive director Mary Skopec, the Goodall scholarship has allowed students with financial need to begin careers in animal science.
“She obviously had a lot of barriers in her life, she was a female in a time that there weren’t a lot of females in that area, and so, sometimes you just need that little bump to help you make that next step in your career,” said Skopec. “I’ve seen that in a lot of our students and scholarship recipients.“
One student in need was able to use the scholarship to come back to school and finish his degree, according to Skopec.
“While it’s not a large sum of money, sometimes it’s just that little bit that gets somebody back on that path towards success,” said Skopec.
Skopec encourages people to visit the lab’s campus on 147 acres of Iowa prairie. There are also 11 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places to explore.
“I think Jane Goodall’s legacy would be to slow down, to sit with nature, and to have that experience that is really calming and restorative,” said Skopec. “I think that having people come to the lakeside would be, I think, really phenomenal for them.”
That theme of care for the environment extends beyond Goodall’s research with chimpanzees in Tanzania and into the Midwestern prairies of the lab’s campus.
“We love that she left her legacy at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, which doesn’t have many primates other than the humans running around,” joked Skopec.
Classes focus on the ecology of the lakes, wetland and prairie, with students researching organisms like turtles and diatoms (algae that produce oxygen).
Skopec adds that the scholarship and the educational opportunities it provides are in line with the legacy of Goodall: to find what you are passionate about and have it “change the course of your life.”
“We see that every day at Lakeside Lab. We have students who come up who don’t exactly know what they want to do with their career, and after a summer, they’re inspired to go off and do really amazing things,” said Skopec. “Really, it’s just about finding inspiration from people around you like Dr. Goodall and others and just really take that opportunity and run with it.”
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