It’s a Jungle Up There: More Tales from the Treetops

A sequel to Life in the Treetops, Margaret Lowman’s first award-winning book, It’s a Jungle Up There continues the adventures of a pioneering scientist juggling family and career. Lowman weaves her messages about tropical rain forest exploration, conservation, and science education into the challenges of raising two sons. Now teenagers, Edward and James Burgess join her as co-authors, bringing their perspectives of growing up with a scientist-mom. Their explorations integrate science investigation with clear messages about family values.

In Life in the Treetops , Lowman chronicled her struggles about caring for her children as toddlers while climbing trees as a field biologist; now Edward and James are old enough to count bugs and make discoveries of their own. They comment about their unique upbringing in tropical jungles amidst piranhas, anacondas, tarantulas and katydids, and balancing their own worlds of school, skate-boarding, religion, and science. All three also explore familial issues like caring for aging parents, remarriage, and career paths as the boys become old enough to grasp issues ranging from global conservation to office politics. They discover new beetles in the Amazon, and share their enthusiasm for conservation and education projects ranging from Cameroon, Africa, to Biosphere 2. They advocate a message of “conservation not conversation”.

Candid, humorous, and adventurous, It’s a Jungle Up There will be attractive to naturalists, travel enthusiasts, armchair adventurers, or students seeking advice about science or balancing career and family. The book presents as a unique mix of the voices of a pioneering woman in science and her exceptional sons.