Mailbag: Q&A with Dr. Lowman

Magda from the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, Sweden writes:

I found out about you and your adventures while doing research for my master thesis project which can be described as an alternative world guide book but in the form of a game.

The project/game encourage travellers to explore other things than usually described in a guidebook. The whole game will be in english and is not site-specific but can be used anywhere in the world.

I will also make a small book which deals with exploring the concept of traveling from different perspectives – historically, philosophically, personally, politically etc.

I am contacting you to ask if you would be interested in answering four questions to include in this small book? Would be extremely interesting to have your view upon this!

If you have time, here are the questions:

Below are the questions with Dr. Lowman’s answers:

1. Is there some particular journey that you still dream about doing? (It could be a possible or impossible journey).

I dream about going from the headwaters to the mouth of the Amazon, before it has been fragmented and altered by oil company leases.

2. Tell me about your first travel experience!

My first travel experience was going to the state science fair in 5th grade (I ended as the only girl in a large auditorium of boys exhibiting or experimenting) — I won second prize for my wildflower collections and research — but my dad forgot to put gas in the car and we ended up coasting down the hill into Syracuse New York at 6 AM in the morning –a dubious start to my career in science!

3. Which travel experience has affected you the most?

I believe seeing the Amazon with my children — although I am passionate about rain forest conservation, I am also a devoted mom and so sharing this amazing world of biodiversity with two enthusiastic young boys was truly a special moment for me.

4. I you could bring a person of your choice to any destination – which destination would you choose and who would you take with you?

I would love to take Bill and Melinda Gates to the Amazon — so they would realize that health (of people) relies on health of the planet, and their very generous foundation might share some of its generosity to environmental conservation issues

5. Describe a special meeting that you have had during a journey!

My most special meeting was with the 15 chiefs of a remote village in Western Samoa, when they chanted and drank kava for 7 hours while they decided if we should build them a canopy walkway to help them keep from logging their forest (see the second chapter in my book, Its a Jungle Up There, which provides all the fun details of that day!!)

6. Where in the world have you found the most beautiful tree? Describe it!

My favorite tree is the FIG tree (Ficus watkinsiana in Australia, but there are other Ficus species around the world). i wrote about figs in the last chapter of my first book, Life in the Treetops. Any tree that starts its life from the top, and sends its roots down to the ground, has to be VERY COOL and also very smart in the sense that it is guaranteed to have light which is a limited commodity if you start growing from the forest floor upward.