© David S. Holloway/Apix

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, world-renowned chimpanzee expert, conservationist, humanitarian, will be the keynote speaker on Monday, July 25, 2005, at the 25th Annual Esri International User Conference. The conference will run July 25-29 at the Convention Center in San Diego, California. Best known for her study of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe National Park, Goodall is recognized throughout the world for her environmental conservation efforts. In 2003, she was named by Queen Elizabeth as a Dame of the British Empire (DBE). In 2002, she was selected by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Goodall is the author of more than 20 books, including a best selling poignant memoir, Reason for Hope, in which she explores her work and personal spiritual odyssey. At one with nature and challenged by the man-made dangers of environmental destruction, she offers insight into her perceptions of these threats and celebrates the people who are working for earth's renewal.

Goodall has expanded her global outreach with the founding of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) based in Silver Spring, Maryland. The institute is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. It also is widely recognized for establishing innovative community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa and the Roots & Shoots education program, which has groups in more than 87 countries.

Goodall travels the globe 300 days a year to raise money for JGI's research, conservation, and education efforts and to inspire young and old alike to take compassionate action to preserve the natural world and all its beings.

You won't want to miss Goodall's keynote address as she reminds us that dedication to a purpose can help inspire, communicate, and produce purposeful results.

For more information, visit www.janegoodall.org.

JGI's Center for Primate Studies

Dr. Goodall and orphaned sanctuary chimpanzee. (The Jane Goodall Institute does not endorse handling or interfering with wild chimpanzees.) © JGI Uganda

Scientists at JGI's Center for Primate Studies, based at the University of Minnesota, have developed one of the largest GIS animal behavior databases in the world. The database integrates more than 300,000 recorded chimpanzee observations with remote sensing data acquired between 1947 and 2003. JGI also has worked with local communities on a pilot project to combine 1-m resolution satellite images, GIS, participatory mapping, and local knowledge of landscapes and historical land use. JGI is using this integrated data to inform village communities and regional governments of the extent of deforestation outside Gombe National Park and to assist in their own land use planning. GIS data also is informing the development of a conservation plan to save chimpanzee habitats outside protected areas in the Gombe region and in western Tanzania.

For more information about JGI GIS projects, contact Lilian Pintea (e-mail: lpintea@janegoodall.org).