Lowman spent 8 years studying the dry forest canopies in the outback of Australia. Also called dry sclerophyll forests, these eucalypt canopies suffer a malady called eucalypt dieback where insect outbreaks intermittently attack and kill millions of trees.

In 1999, Dr. Lowman with local philanthropists raised $50,000 to fund 24 students to undertake an expedition to the Amazon. This life-changing experience was offered as a scholarship to young people from the Sarasota County Girls Incorporated and the Sarasota plus NorthPort Boys and Girls Clubs. The high schoolers participated in canopy research on the world’s longest canopy walkway in Peru, visited a village school where they were beaten by the local soccer team (in bare feet!), and also worked with a shaman learning about medicinal plants in the jungle. All of the students participated in fund-raising for the canopy walkway at Myakka River state park as part of their requirements to earn the scholarship trip. Lowman said their energy level tired her out, but that the students made a great research team.

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