Forest Canopies

MARGARET DALZELL LOWMAN

Chief Scientist, TREE Foundation

In October 1999, Meg Lowman became the Chief Executive Officer of Selby Botanical Gardens, an institution that specializes in tropical plants, especially epiphytes. Under her leadership, the Gardens expanded membership by 45% and fund-raising by over 100%. For eight years prior, she had been the Director of Research and Conservation there, overseeing a staff of scientists and educators. Her expertise involves canopy ecology, particularly plant-insect relationships, and spans over 25 years in Australia, Peru, Africa, the Americas, and the South Pacific. She has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and three books. After eleven years of service, she resigned from Selby Gardens to devote more time to her passions for public science, pursuing research, education and conservation with TREE Foundation.

Prior to joining Selby, Meg was an assistant professor in Biology and Environmental Studies at Williams College, Massachusetts where she pioneered several aspects of temperate forest canopy research and built the first canopy walkway in North America. From 1978-89, she lived in Australia and worked on canopy processes in both rain forests and dry sclerophyll forests. She was instrumental in determining the causes of the eucalypt dieback syndrome that destroyed millions of trees in rural Australia, and assisted with conservation programs for tree regeneration. She is also involved in long-term studies of rain forest regeneration.

Meg has developed an expertise for the use of different canopy access techniques, including ropes, walkways, hot air balloons, construction cranes, and combinations of these methods. She frequently speaks about her jungle adventures and about rain forest conservation to educational groups, ranging from elementary classes to corporate executives to international conferences. She continues to travel worldwide to “map” the canopy for biodiversity,