(CNN) -- Jane Goodall left her home in London for the wilds of Africa when she was just 26-years-old driven by the love of and the fascination for animals.
Despite no formal training, her enthusiasm to study primates led to the key discovery that chimpanzees have abilities and personalities similar to humans.
Five decades on, and Dr. Goodall is now a tireless campaigner for conservation and environmental causes, especially the need to protect natural habitat.
With Goodall's global Roots and Shoots movement, her work has moved from the jungle to the classroom and much of that effort has been focused on educating the next generation.
