제인 구달은 1934년 4월 3일 영국 런던에서 태어나 영국 남부의 해안에 있는 번머스에서 자랐다. 스물세 살이던 1957년 우연한 기회에 아프리카 대륙에 건너갔다가 세계적인 고인류학자 루이스 리키와 메리 리키 부부를 만났다. 그리고 1960년, 루이스 리키에 의해 탄자니아의 곰베 지역 침팬지 연구에 발탁되어 야생 상태의 침팬지를 연구하기 시작했다. 침팬지에 대한 놀라운 발견으로 케임브리지 대학교에서 동물행동학 박사 학위를 받은 후 침팬지와 비비를 연구하는 ‘곰비 강 연구 센터(Gombe Stream Research Center)’를 설립하였다. 1977년에는 야생 동물의 연구, 교육, 보존을 위한 ‘제인 구달 연구소(The Jane Goodall)’를 세워 침팬지 및 다른 야생 동물들의 서식지 보호와 처우 개선을 장려하는 일을 하고 있다. 또한 ‘루츠 앤 슈츠(Roots & Shoots)'와 ’TACARE(the Lake Tanganyika Cathment Reforestation and Education)' 프로그램을 통해 전 세계 어린이들과 아프리카 지역 주민들에게 자연과 더불어 살아갈 수 있는 방법을 알려 주고 함께 고민함으로써 위기에 처한 지구를 구하는 길을 모색하고 있다. 전 지구의 환경 보호에 기여한 공로를 인정받아 영국의 엘리자베스 여왕으로부터 작위를 수여받았으며 권위 있는 기초 과학상인 ‘교토 상’과 내셔널 지오그래픽 소사이어티의 ‘허바드 상’을 받았다. 2002년에는 UN에서 ‘평화의 메신저(Massenger of Peace)'로 임명받아 전 세계를 돌아다니며 세계 평화와 지구 위 모든 종의 평화를 위해 활동하였다. 자연을 벗 삼은 어린 시절과 아프리카 오지에서 처음 침팬지를 연구하면서 겪은 재미난 에피소드들을 담은 『제인 구달』을 비롯하여 『인간의 그늘에서』, 『희망의 이유』, 『제인 구달의 생명 사랑 십계명』, 『내가 사랑한 침팬지』, 『제인 구달의 아름다운 우정』 등을 썼다.

Jane Goodall is the world's foremost authority on chimpanzees, having closely observed their behavior for the past quarter century in the jungles of the Gombe Game Reserve in Africa, living in the chimps' environment and gaining their confidence. Her observations and discoveries are internationally heralded. Her research and writing have made, and are making, revolutionary inroads into scientific thinking regarding the evolutions of humans.

In 1977, Dr. Jane Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation to provide ongoing support for field research on wild chimpanzees. Today, the mission of the Jane Goodall Institute is to advance the power of individuals to take informed and compassionate action to improve the environment for all living things. The Institute is a leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats and is widely recognized for establishing innovative community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa and the Roots & Shoots education program in more than 70 countries.

Since 1999 Gary McAvoy has served as volunteer Seattle Base Camp Leader for the Jane Goodall Institute, coordinating Dr. Goodall's promotional events and fund-raising efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Cooking with natural, organic foods has been Gary's lifelong avocation and provided the inspiration for Harvest for Hope, further supporting Dr. Goodall's mission of protecting animals, the planet, and the environment.

A high-tech entrepreneur for over two decades, Gary is the founder and CEO of GetToTheTop a global search marketing firm based in Seattle. His groundbreaking book Cracking the New Economy: Business Tools for the Entrepreneur (Washington Software Alliance, 2000) is a compilation of 70 experts speaking to the methods, strategies, and tactics for building and maintaining thriving technology companies. Gary's achievements in the software industry have been widely recognized, most notably when he was named a semi-finalist in the 1995 Pacific Northwest Inc. Magazine/Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Gary is also publisher of the Literati Network, the Web's oldest community of literary websites. He is currently at work on a novel.

Gail Hudson's lifelong passion for organic foods and holistic living inspired her to work with Dr. Goodall on Harvest for Hope. For the past 20 years Gail has worked in the publishing industry as a freelance writer as well as a newspaper and magazine editor. Her features and personal essays about natural health, spiritual growth, and parenting have appeared in numerous publications, including Self, Utne, Natural Health, Parents, Body & Soul, and Good Housekeeping. Gail. For many years Gail was Spirituality Editor at Amazon.com, writing book reviews and interviewing authors for the website.

Her books include an anthology of personal essays for Seal Press titled I Wanna Be Sedated: 30 Writers on Parenting Teenagers Hudson Books, published in April 2005. As a contributing editor for Child magazine, she wrote a book on sibling rivalry, Quarreling, which resulted in Gail being interviewed by Katie Couric on the "Today Show."

Gail teaches classes and workshops on personal narrative and memoir writing. She is also a writing coach for numerous book writers. She lives with her husband and two children in the Seattle area.