She represented a tranquil powerful influence. Her dedication never faltered in her purpose to protect the creatures to which she dedicated her life.
Speaking with Dame Jane Goodall recently, she displayed remarkable serenity, even as she pressed home that a biodiversity collapse was facing our planet.
Through our digital meeting, I could see her companion doll, Mr H, positioned beside her.
The figure was gifted to her nearly 30 years ago by a friend. Dr Goodall, who was nine decades old when we spoke, was still travelling the world with Mr H by her side.
Researchers I've consulted with this recent period, whose work Dr Goodall inspired, or who were simply affected by her energy, are in disbelief at her demise aged 91.
Dr Goodall made such a difference because "she relinquished doing what she loved - being with her adored apes - to persistently move the world and share her passion with everyone she met."
Revolutionary Findings
In the many years that Jane Goodall monitored and analyzed chimpanzees, she revolutionised our comprehension of our closest primate cousins.
Key to her groundbreaking discoveries were her wonder and capacity - methodically - to watch.
It was during her time in the jungle sanctuary at Gombe, in Tanzania, when she paused to observe a primate who was foraging.
The chimp took a small branch, shaped and prepared it of its leaves, then he poked it into a insect mound.
He then used that prepared tool to extract the insects into his jaws.
That observation - in 1960 - challenged the belief that only humanity made and used tools.
Overcoming Challenges
Even as she changed our knowledge of the natural world, Dr Goodall encountered cynicism and sexism.
She was not formally trained as a scientist. And, in the 1960s, that was unusual.
Her work in Gombe later revealed that chimpanzees also form strong family bonds - and even that they engage in warfare over habitat.
But her technique – interacting so intimately with the animals she studied, giving them identities and even calling them as "my friends" - made her disliked with the male-dominated scientific field.
She had no formal scientific training. But she explained to me that her advisor and instructor, Professor Louis Leakey, saw the value in her natural methodology.
"He wanted somebody whose perspective wasn't clouded by the reductionist attitude of science to wildlife," she said.
Enduring Impact
Now, the scientific establishment is processing the passing of a extraordinary pioneer.
Jane Goodall ultimately shifted her emphasis from her research subjects to advocating about conserving wildlife.
When she shared with me, she was advocating a tree-planting and habitat restoration mission that her namesake organization was implementing in Uganda.
"We still have a window of time to mitigate global warming and wildlife decline," she said at the time. "But it's a opportunity that's closing."
One of the many scientists Dr Goodall influenced told me: "Jane would be the first person to tell us that what the world demands right now is not grief over her absence, but to get to work.
"We all have a significant work to accomplish to make sure that we are not the final cohort to live alongside untamed apes."
Dr Goodall was called "an extraordinary researcher who inspired people to see the environment in a different light".
She was impressive and it's profoundly surprising news, because she completely changed how we perceive other creatures and how we consider ourselves - she disputed human superiority.
