On Saturday, Ethiopians walk to market, to trade goods and to have social interaction. But for many , the walk is tens of miles — and conditions are dusty, hot, and rugged on the feet (especially without shoes). The scenery is breath-taking, but obviously no one is taking pictures or stopping to admire the view, when they are more concerned about finding water for their children.

When my Ethiopian colleague, Dr. Alemayehu Wassie Eshete, visited me at New College of Florida, he made the amazing discovery of Google-Earth. Subsequently, he stayed up into the wee hours of the night, printing out Google images of many of the church forests for which he had studied. He was amazed, and we were both also saddened, because the images illustrated the soil color changes where shrinkage of the original forests had occurred. This made our conservation project all the more urgent and compelling. These images also illustrate the arid, stressed agricultural landscapes surrounding the church forests, which indicates the importance of working on increasing the crop yields as well as conserving the native seed sources, pollinators and fresh water springs (all of which tend to be inside the church forests). Fortunately, the Coptic bishops recognize the urgency of conserving their boundaries, as a spiritual as well as an ecosystem services, priority for the quality of the next generation. Together, we hope to creative some innovative solutions and educate the people about ecosystem services. A BIG thanks to Google-Earth whose images really brought home the conservation message to the Bishops of the Coptic churches in Ethiopia, when I showed them these pictures last year in our first meeting.

The Ethiopians are ruggedly handsome, beautiful people. Here are some images of some of the wonderful people that I met during my first visit to meet with the Bishops and determine if we could work together on this important conservation project.

The Nature Research Center (NRC) at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is scheduled to open in fall 2011. This innovative new wing is being designed to bring research to the forefront and highlight current scientific issues that affect our daily lives. Here is a look at the future Nature Research Center:

Dr. Lowman appeared on “Community - The TV Show” on April 23, 2010.

Popular Science Magazine is doing an article on the 10 coolest college classes in the country. One of their selections was Canopy Ecology with CanopyMeg. Canopy ecology has been taught at New College (FL) for 7 years, but will be taught at North Carolina State University (NC) in the next few years. So, hopefully canopy students can take flight to all different types of forests in USA.
Photos of our demonstration — with students — in Myakka River State Park, FL are below.

 

Students in pictures include: Christine McCormick, Taylor Jamrok, Meghan McAvoy, Sun, Ling

Since March 2009, the study of insects that inhabit the forest canopy has a space in the Collserola Park, in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. As a pioneering study in the Iberian Peninsula, almost everything is a surprise in relation to phenology and composition of groups and species in the Mediterranean mixed forest. In addition to traditional sampling by Malaise traps, each month I tracked continuously for 48 hours, watching the peaks of activity of insect groups during the day and night, to determine vertical migrations between the canopy and the understory, strata preferences, etc.

Jorge Mederos (Zoology Museum of Barcelona)

From O, The Oprah Magazine, May 11, 2010 and on Oprah.com:

Saw the world from the top of a 16-story tree?

“It’s like climbing to outer space. There are millions of undiscovered creatures in every nook and cranny. Some are two feet long, some smaller than a raindrop. At 165 feet up, I’m the first to see rain on the horizon. There are 1,000 shades of green, and I usually can’t see the forest floor. Sometimes I stay overnight, and it’s too much fun to sleep. The tree’s strong architecture is very protecting. The swaying lulls me like I’m a baby. At night the insects chew and chirp—it’s a symphony by Mother Nature, Times Square in the forest.” — Tropical rainforest canopy biologist and conservationist Margaret D. Lowman, PhD, who began taking her two children up with her into the treetops when they were 4 and 6 years old

Quote online at Oprah Magazine

On January 20-28, 2010, students and families joined CanopyMeg for the Amazon Rainforest Workshop: The Ecology and Culture of the Amazon Jungle. Below are student photos from the trip. (Student logs can be found here.)

 

From the rolexawards.com:

The Laureates of the inaugural series of the Young Laureates Programme will be chosen in March 2010 by a panel of distinguished, highly talented individuals. The winners will be announced in April 2010.

Please visit the new Young Laureates programme website to meet the finalists in the inaugural series.

View the list of Jury members here.

UPDATE: 2010 Rolex Young Laureates announced