Margaret D. Lowman
Canopy ecologist
"I climb trees for a living," says Margaret Lowman, better known as “Canopy Meg” (www.canopymeg.com). For the past three decades, the 55-year-old American has earned an international reputation as a pioneer in forest canopy ecology, canopy plant-insect relationships and devising ingenious canopy access methods to explore this “eighth continent”, home to about half of life on earth.
Equipped with degrees in biology and ecology and a Ph.D. in botany, Lowman developed her childhood interest in building tree forts into mapping canopy biodiversity worldwide and spearheading the construction, in 1991, of North America’s first canopy walkway. Over the years, she has used science education to influence government policy and encourage environmental stewardship. Included among her many outreach initiatives are large-scale, distance-learning programmes, newspaper columns, science books for public audiences and nature camps for disadvantaged youth. Since 2003, she has been based at the New College of Florida where she is director of environmental initiatives and professor of biology and environmental studies. She also serves as executive director of the non-profit TREE Foundation.
"One of the biggest issues facing the next generation is keeping our kids linked to nature," says Dr Lowman, a sentiment reflected in her latest book, It’s a Jungle Up There (2006), written with her two sons.
