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She was a calm force of nature. Her dedication never faltered in her mission to help the creatures to which she committed her career.

During my conversation with Dame Jane Goodall recently, she radiated tranquility, even as she emphasized that a biodiversity collapse was confronting our planet.

Through our digital meeting, I could see her companion doll, Mr H, behind her.

The figure was given to her nearly 30 years ago by a associate. Dr Goodall, who was 90 years old when we spoke, was still travelling the world with Mr H at her side.

Scientists I've spoken to this recent period, whose work Dr Goodall influenced, or who were simply affected by her energy, are in astonishment at her demise aged 91.

Dr Goodall made such a difference because "she sacrificed doing what she loved - observing her adored apes - to constantly journey the world and spread her dedication with all she encountered."

Groundbreaking Discoveries

In the extended period that Jane Goodall watched and researched chimpanzees, she revolutionised our understanding of our closest primate cousins.

Key to her pioneering discoveries were her wonder and ability - quietly - to study.

It was during her stay in the rainforest reserve at Gombe, in Tanzania, when she stopped to spend time a male chimpanzee who was searching for food.

The primate took a stick, shaped and prepared it of its vegetation, then he poked it into a insect mound.

He then used that stripped, bent twig to extract the prey into his eating orifice.

That discovery - in 1960 - disputed the belief that only humans made and used tools.

Facing Adversity

Even as she altered our knowledge of the natural world, Dr Goodall confronted skepticism and sexism.

She was not conventionally schooled as a scientist. And, in the 1960s, that was unusual.

Her work in Gombe subsequently demonstrated that chimps also form strong family bonds - and even that they participate in conflicts over habitat.

But her technique – connecting so deeply with the animals she studied, giving them identities and even describing them as "my friends" - made her disliked with the male-dominated scientific community.

She had no conventional academic background. But she explained to me that her advisor and instructor, Professor Louis Leakey, saw the worth in her unconventional approach.

"He desired somebody whose mind wasn't messed up by the narrow viewpoint of traditional research to wildlife," she said.

Lasting Legacy

Now, the research community is processing the death of a remarkable researcher.

Jane Goodall eventually turned her attention from her chimpanzees to advocating about protecting nature.

When she spoke to me, she was supporting a forest restoration and environmental rehabilitation mission that her namesake organization was implementing in Uganda.

"We still have a chance to reduce climate change and loss of biodiversity," she said at the time. "But it's a chance that's narrowing."

One of the many scientists Dr Goodall influenced commented: "Jane would be the primary figure to tell us that what the world needs right now is not sadness over her absence, but to begin efforts.

"We all have a lot to be getting on with to make sure that we are not the ultimate group to live alongside untamed apes."

Dr Goodall was called "an extraordinary researcher who influenced others to see the wildlife in a different light".

She was formidable and it's incredibly shocking news, because she radically altered how we understand other creatures and how we consider ourselves - she disputed human superiority.