Jane Goodall – Primatologist/Conservationist
Photo credits: (l) Europe Press/Associated Press, (r) National Geographic
“Human beings are a part of nature, not apart from it. Some have always thought this was true, but Dr. Jane Goodall proved it. While best known for her work with chimpanzees, she championed causes both global and local, including working to save grizzly bears in Yellowstone. Jane mobilized the global conservation movement. All of us who call this planet home owe her our gratitude. She was also my friend. I’ll miss her.”
-Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia Founder, 10/2/25
“”It seems these days everybody is so involved with technology that we forget that we’re not only part of the natural world, we’re an animal like all the others,’ Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a conservation group, said last week during the Forbes Sustainability Leaders Summit in NYC. ‘We’re an animal like all the others. But we depend on it for clean air, water, food, clothing – everything.’
“And yet – “We’re destroying the planet,” she said.
“In a separate conversation with the Wall Street Journal last week, Goodall said the problem is the pernicious idea that economic development should come before the environment. In reality, we’re on a planet with finite resources, and if we exhaust them, it could spell our own end. ‘Humans are not exempt from extinction,’ Goodall said in the Wall Street Journal’s podcast, The Journal.
“’We have a window of time,’ Goodall, who’s authored more than two dozen books, said in The Journal. ‘But it’s not a very big window. If we don’t change the way we do things, the way we develop economically, then it will be too late.’”
-Benji Jones, “Vox News,” 10/2/2025
Robert Redford – Actor/Filmmaker/Conservationist
Photo credits: (l) Sundance Film Festival, (r) thesun.ie
“He will be remembered as one of the greatest storytellers in our country’s history. He elevated stories beyond mainstream. He not only cared about the environment, but he took all conceivable actions to protect it.”
-Bob Woodward, Instagram, 9/16/25
“”Robert Redford was a lifelong champion for wildlife conservation, a trailblazer on increasing awareness of climate impacts, and an unwavering advocate for conserving our beloved public lands,” [National Wildlife Foundation] CEO Collin O’Mara said in a statement to FOX Weather.
“In 2005, Redford and his son James Redford established The Redford Center, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental filmmaking.
“‘We felt that the pervasive, apocalyptic climate story we were hearing was helping create urgency and awareness of the climate problem, but it was not moving enough people into action,’ Redford wrote about the nonprofit.
“In 2017, The Redford Center released the HBO documentary “Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution,” directed by and starring James Redford.
“‘It is our most ambitious project and is a direct response to the climate crisis – answering the questions: What can we do? Where is the hope?’ Redford wrote.”
-Emilee Speck, foxweather.com, 9/16/25
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