A campus built by American television star, Ellen DeGeneres, to support gorilla conservation efforts in Rwanda has officially opened its doors to visitors.
The campus known as Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund was built in memory of American primatologist and conservationist, Dian Fossey, and to continue her legacy after her death in 1985.
It’s a $14 million investment.
The goal of the campus is to inspire everyone who visits, and the community members, to cherish gorillas and encourage a lifetime of conservation.
For nearly 50 years, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has continued Dian’s work of saving the gorillas, by addressing all threats to the gorillas — human illnesses, habitat loss as well as collaborating with communities to ensure they appreciate the value of protecting the gorillas.
During the groundbreaking of the new campus back in 2019, Ellen’s spouse, Portia de Rossi, said she chose to build the campus as a way of linking her wife (Ellen) to her hero (Dian Fossey) in a significant and lasting way.
She recounted how Ellen told her how as a child, she came across the National Geographic with Dian Fossey on the cover. And that seeing that brave American woman, a scientist, who left her comfortable life to set up a tent in the Rwandan forest to save a species on the brink of extinction, was transformative for Ellen.
“It made her see the world differently, and her place within it. Learning about this passionate, committed biologist, and the impact one person can have, was the catalyst for Ellen becoming who she is today—a trailblazer—just like her hero, Dian,” Portia said in 2019 in Rwanda while breaking ground for construction of the campus.
Four years ago, Portia surprised Ellen with the Ellen DeGeneres Fund on her 60th birthday. The Fund supports conservation work.
Situated north of Rwanda near the Volcanoes National Park which is home to habituated mountain gorillas, the new campus sits on more than 12 acres, with more than 50,000 square feet of building space.
Financial support came from generous donors, including actor and conservationist, Leonardo DiCaprio, who named the 360 theater for his mother, Irmelin DiCaprio, and a computer lab for his father, George DiCaprio.
The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund boasts of being the best in sustainable architecture, local resourcing, and environmentally-responsible practices. The design and building of the campusu was made possible by the award-winning MASS Design Group and MASS Build.
The campus houses state-of-the-art laboratories (increasing laboratory space by 500%), a scientific conservation library, and meeting space for large groups.
It also has an interactive exhibit that focuses on Dian Fossey’s story and the conservation of the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.
Indoor and outdoor classrooms with a range of experiences will be utilized by everyone – young children, scientists and tourists.
There is also an extensive living laboratory housing 250,000 native plants.
To further research which is the core of The Dian Fossey Fund, the new campus has the Sandy and Harold Price Research Center, a state-of-the-art facility built to facilitate research in areas such as gorilla genetics, physiology and paleontology.
With the Research Center, the Fossey Fund will have five times more lab space allowing for greater collaboration with scientists and students.
The Rob and Melani Walton Education Center houses classroom space, science library and computer lab. These facilities will expand teaching opportunities with local and international universities and enable the Fossey Fund to host conferences, seminars and trainings. Beyond the built space, the campus is a living laboratory with more than 250,000 native plants.
The Cindy Broder Conservation Gallery will host visitors to the Ellen Campus of the Fossey Fund with an immersive public exhibit designed to tell the story of mountain gorilla research and conservation from Dian Fossey’s time to today.
The Conservation Gallery includes never before seen artifacts from Dian Fossey’s almost two decades living with the gorillas, an engaging visual experience, including virtual and augmented reality and a 360 degree immersive theater.
To complete a visitor’s experience at the Ellen Campus, there is a café and gift shop with inviting areas to sit an enjoy the biodiversity of the campus.
