#819 THE LIFE OF A SCIENTIST MOM (Originally broadcast May 11, 2008)
Field biologist and January Series guest Margaret Lowman has balanced research and family in rainforest treetops around the world. Lowman, author of It’s a Jungle Up There: More Tales from the Treetops, tells host Shirley Hoogstra how her high-reaching adventures grounded her as a mother and advanced forest-canopy research for scientists, indigenous people groups, and the online student community.
You can watch the full episode online here. From Google Video:
Treetop Traveler: Most of her career has been up in the air–and with good reason. Meg Lowman—a.k.a. Canopy Meg—is a pioneer tree canopy scientist. For 20 years, Meg has traveled the world climbing trees to study the health of our environment from above. Meet this amazing author, educator, adventurer and single mom who helped design Myakka River State Park’s scenic canopy walkway so others can see nature from her point of view.
“CanopyMeg” Lowman has climbed thousands of trees over her thirty-year career as an arbornaut and canopy biologist. Meg’s undergraduate students at New College edited some of her numerous videos from television and educational programming, to create a synopsis of “best climbs”. Enjoy!
Charissa Jones, one of TREE Foundations first student research interns, recently graduated with a degree in environmental studies. Thanks for TREE Foundation support, Charissa has worked passionately in the field of environmental education, taking on local outreach with middle schools and extending her work nationally with the Ecological Society of America SEEDS program. Here is a short video from Charissa’s undergraduate thesis work, where she inspired local elementary students to engage in field biology through their search for Tardigrades, a cryptic yet common organism found on all continents. Congratulations, Charissa!
Below is the video that was shown when Dr. Lowman was awarded the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award during the 14th Annual Sarasota County Conservation Awards: