One of the most famous conservationists in the world is Jane Goodall. She is well known for her groundbreaking research on wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park. She made major contributions in wildlife research and created the youth environmental program Roots and Shoots. She won many rewards and got recognition for several honors including being named a UN Messenger of peace.
Along with her accomplishments worldwide she focused on helping within our very own West-Linn/ Wilsonville District. Specifically, she spoke at certain events and inspired younger students with their ISEF/environmental projects. In late 2025 Dr. Jane Goodall passed away, so multiple CREST workers will be setting up an installation/memory wall at the 25th Annual CREST- Jane Goodall Science symposium in her memory.
CREST Director Amy Schauer goes into detail on how Dr. Jane Goodall became involved with CREST and district wide STEM projects. She responded, “Dr. Jane Goodall developed a relationship with our school district through Mr. Dave Pagni, who knew her and was the Community Partnerships Coordinator for West Linn-Wilsonville for many years.”
“The school year, 2002-2003, was the first year we had a high school science fair affiliated with ISEF, and it was the first year it was officially called the CREST-Jane Goodall Science Symposium. “
She continues,“When I was director of CREST, I loved to tell people the story of Jane Goodall dedicating the center, and how she inspired the vision for CREST. Her connection to CREST really set the “good karma” mindset and tone that everyone visiting the center seemed to embrace.”
When she visited the WVHS district she left a valuable impression every time. Jane visited four times: once at Athey Creek, once when CREST opened, once when the Science Fair started, an Oregon Roots and Shoots event, and then most recently, when she came to Lincoln HS where WLHS Field Science CTE students presented her.
Another important CREST Director Bob Carlson helped write a proposal to EPA to start a program called CREST. It included engaging students in their own research projects and turning the CREST program into ISEF in the future. He had asked Jane Goodall if she could come and talk at the opening of the CREST Building, and it worked in his favor.
He says, “Students were able to interact with Jane while they shared their environmental projects with her via poster boards. At the time I was amazed at how much direct and personal attention she gave to each child.”
“She took the time to ask each group questions and made specific comments on each project. I was surprised because this is not the typical insincere attention that most famous people or politicians give students.”
When ISEF started after CREST Jane Goodall agreed to allow her name to be used in the title. She was then decided to speak as the first scientist at the First ISEF symposium at West Linn High School.
Carlson states, “Some ISEF projects that were oriented towards environmental topics shared their research with Jane. I know she inspired one Wilsonville HS student to try to locate where local coyote communities were making their dens.”
“Jane threw it out there and this one student took notice. She did an ISEF project the next year. She went out to Graham Oaks Natural Area and would do observational data collection early in the morning and at different times of the day trying to learn the coyotes patterns and habits. “
“She analyzed their scat to see what she could learn about their diet. As far as I know she never did establish a den location but she learned an awful lot about the coyotes of Wilsonville.”
Dr. Jane Goodall was a motivator and a powerful speaker. She influenced many students’ projects and inspired them to continue with their research. She was a model for future wildlife exploration and she will be missed by many.
Schaur adds, “All of us at CREST learned a lot from her during her visits and I think we all tried to emulate how she related to and taught our students. She was a great guide to the kind of environmental scientists and teachers we all wanted to be for all students.”