This year’s Starmus festival in La Palma featured one of the long-running science event’s most eagerly-awaited speakers, even though she has little to do with the usual themes of the festival.
Starmus regularly brings together leading names from the world of astrophysics and space exploration, with past guests including scientists of the calibre of Stephen Hawking and renowned astronauts such as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, who headlined its very first edition back in 2011.
The star of the show on this occasion at Starmus La Palma (25-28 April), which was titled “The Island of The Stars” and focused on the major challenges faced in protecting the skies from pollution and space debris, was none other than Jane Goodall. Goodall is arguably the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, having spent over 60 years studying their social and family interactions in the wild.
Her fascinating talk covering her decades of research with chimps was delivered to a packed hall and a surprise was in store for her when she was awarded the island’s top honour for contributions to the advancement of science. Goodall becomes the latest star in the constellation that lights up La Palma’s Walk of Science, an initiative launched back in 2016 when Stephen Hawking was made its first star.
An emotional Goodall said that she was deeply honoured to be inducted onto the Walk, which is situated on the capital’s Avenida Marítima, and have one of its stars bear her name. Starmus founder Garik Israelian said there was “no better scientist than Goodall” to be awarded the accolade and thanked her for “all she had done down the years to attract people to science and show them the importance of protecting nature.”
La Palma president Sergio Rodríguez, who was given the pleasurable task of presenting Goodall with her star, said he was very proud and honoured that the primatologist’s name would now be linked forever with the island.
Photo: Cabildo La Palma
