Jane Goodall, the legendary animal rights activist who was made famous for her work with chimpanzees, died from natural causes at age 91, the Jane Goodall Institute announced Wednesday.

She was in California at the time of her death, on a speaking tour across the U.S.

Goodall began studying primates on a trip to Tanzania in the 1960s when she was 26, publishing some of the first observations of the animals and their complex social structures in scientific journals.

She immersed herself in the animals’ daily lives, documenting their activities and way of living. She later shared her observations with the public in a way that transformed the understanding of not only the chimps, but the emotional and social complexity of all animals.

She dedicated her life to species conservation and immersed herself in their habitats to understand them on a deeper level.

Take a look at a verdant and curious life, in photos.