Dr. Meg Lowman was an invited speaker at ArborReal, a tree-house building workshop for the students of IaAc (Institut d’arquitectura avancada de Catalunya) in Barcelona, Spain during May 2010. This forward-thinking architectural institute confers approximately 55 Masters degrees each year to students from over 25 countries, teaching them to incorporate nature into architectural design. With the legandary architect, Antoni Gaudi, as a celebrated citizen in Barcelona’s history, the urban landscape is alive and passionate about raising the bar for architecture and embracing the role that nature plays in inspiring architecture. Director of IAAC, Vicente Guallart, believes that trees as living systems can serve as models for architects to build structures that are living, dynamic systems (like ecosystems) for people to inhabit. IAAC hopes to work with Lowman and the TREE Foundation in the future, to integrate environmental education both into their curriculum and into the landscape of Barcelona.
The stunning landscape of Barcelona with sea, urban landscape, and forest.
Lowman met with the director and research staff at Parc de Collserola, to discuss ways to creat interpretation and citizen science programs in the forests surrounding Barcelona.
Masters students at IAAC complete a tree-house design project as part of their coursework to think about the importance of trees and forest ecosystems to inspire architectural design.
Dr. Meg Lowman was a visiting James Martin Fellow at the Center for Tropical Forestry in the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University during spring 2010. During this time, she conducted workshops for Earthwatch Institute at their European headquarters, directed by Nigel Winser (www.earthwatch.org) . She also lectured for the Environmental Change Institute on Plant-Insect Interactions in Forest Canopies, and on Women in Science — Challenges in Field Biology. She also worked with Global Canopy Programme staff (www.gcp.org) headed up by Andrew Mitchell, whose group has created the Little REDD Book to create metrics for reducing deforestation as part of global climate change strategies.
With colleagues, she visited research projects at Whytham Woods outside Oxford, including their canopy walkway (see photos).
During her Fellowship, Lowman was hosted by world-acclaimed artist Angela Palmer, whose exhibit called Ghost Forest has been viewed by millions of people and called attention to climate change and tropical deforestation. Palmer and Lowman hope to collaborate in future on programs to integrate art and science. For more on Ghost Forests, see www.ghostforest.com
TREE Foundation is celebrating its 10th birthday in 2010, as well as the 10th anniversary of our flagship project, the Myakka River State Park canopy walkway. Over the past 10 years, thousands of visitors have learned about forest canopies by walking through the treetops, and hundreds of thousands of additional visitors to our websites have learned about forest conservation. In honor of our decadal birthday, TREE is launching a tree-planting project for southwest Florida. Beginning on April 22 (Earth Day), TREE is partnering with Turner Tree and Landscape of Bradenton, Florida to plant out four-foot high native live oak trees (Quercus virginiana) at sites that need greening. For every $100 donated to the canopy walkway or to TREE’s environmental education programs, two trees will be planted in your honor. This project will not only add much-needed canopy shade to southwest Florida, but it will also boost our environmental programs with your generous contributions. Thank you, Turner Tree and Landscape, for this partnership!
Thank you for your support of Tree Research, Education and Exploration!
Join New Topics New College for a visual tour of the places in the world most affected by climate change, from the poles to mountains and our cities, and some of the actions being taken to combat the warming, presented by Gary Braasch, an explorer and photojournalist from Portland, Oregon. Braasch is an environmental photojournalist who creates remarkable images and important documentation about nature, environment, biodiversity and global warming. Included will be images from Florida and the Atlantic Coast, underscoring the local effects and dangers of rapid climate change. Braasch recently reported and photographed from the Copenhagen international climate negotiations last December, and will offer his perspective on the direction being taken by the world’s nations in reacting to and reducing global warming. The talk will take place at the Mildred Sainer Pavilion (5313 Bay Shore Road) on March 9, 2010 at 4:00 pm. Tickets are $15. For more information or to make a reservation, please call the New College Events Hotline at (941) 497-4888 or email events@ncf.edu.
Tuesday, March 9 at 4:00 pm
“Climate Change – a Visual World View of Global Warming”
Gary Braasch, explorer and environmental photojournalist
Faculty host: Meg Lowman, professor of biology and environmental studies, New College of Florida
Underwritten by the TREE Foundation
New Topics New College is a collaboration of the New College Foundation and New College of Florida. This dynamic community series pairs prominent national speakers with New College faculty for stimulating discussions on relevant topics of our time. A reception follows each program and provides an opportunity to meet the speakers, students and faculty.
Our amazing trip to the Amazon taught me so many things. As a liberal arts student, I’ve had little access to scientific information. Through helping Professor Lowman collect data I learned about the process through which researchers gain knowledge. I never imagined there would be so much paper cutting involved! Graphing and measuring the area and herbivory of the leaves was a tedious yet rewarding process, and it opened my eyes to all of the hard and careful work that it takes to generate statistics (and now I know words like “herbivory”!) I enjoyed hearing about the flora and fauna- I never knew that rainforest leaves grow larger towards the bottom of the forest, or that the “tipping point” at which climate change will be partially irreversible is 20%. The fact that we are at 17% now has made me realize how urgently the issue of deforestation needs to be addressed.
However, the part about our trip that I enjoyed the most was the cultural immersion. I haven’t spoken Spanish since high school and I was surprised by how much of it I picked up in a short week. It truly is much easier to learn a language when surrounded by native speakers. It was difficult to be seen and verbally identified as a tourist- I don’t think that any traveler wants to be seen that way- yet by seeing ourselves through the Peruvian’s eyes, I understood both them and ourselves better. Visiting the village on the last day was one of the most powerful experiences of the trip. To see how little we have and how much we have in comparison made me value my life in the USA a lot more and reinforced my desire to pursue a career that allows me to work directly with people, so that I can help provide resources to those in need.
Now that I’m home, I intend to educate others about what I have learned in the rainforest, and to be more aware of my consumption in my own day to day life. I have already showed all of my friends and family the photos that I have taken, along with information regarding climate change and deforestation, as well as the need for clean water and health care in third world countries. I think the fact that I have been there and seen it with my own eyes will make these problems more real to my loved ones and compel them to take action in order to help find solutions.
In less than a week, the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention opens in Copenhagen, Denmark. Abbreviated as UNFCCC or COP15 (which stands for Council of Parties, now in its 15th year), these meetings are highly anticipated by governments, industry, scientists, and citizens worldwide. I am humbled and honored to have a Press Pass from the New York Times to attend these meetings, and report back to their regional Florida paper, the Sarasota Herald Tribune. With Twitter, Facebook, and blogging, I hope to share the announcements, findings, side events, and diverse groups represented in Copenhagen. From the Girl Scouts to Environmental Defense, from Harvard University to the government of Papua New Guinea, voices around the world will speak out about climate change, in hopes of influencing future policies. I will also be reporting scientific information directly to our Florida cabinet, in my role as climate change adviser to our state CFO, Alex Sink.
My first assignment for COP15 was attendance at a Press Briefing in Bonn, Germany on November 25 …. via internet! At this introductory session, it was made clear that there is no Plan B for failure at Copenhagen, only Plan A (and A stands for Action). It is also clear from the scientific record that unseasonable climatic conditions are already stressing many developing countries and resulting in tragic loss of human life. Droughts in Africa, storm surges flooding Pacific Islands, and monsoons accompanied by flood damage along the coasts of Asia are threatening millions of citizens. Is climate change a consequence of human activities? The scientific consensus is a strong YES. But regardless of anyone’s opinion about the answer to that question, all global leaders agree on three issues:
More people are currently at risk (as compared to the past) from climatic extremes;
Our already- declining, finite supplies of some natural resources (e.g. forests, coral reefs, mangroves, etc.) are in danger of disappearing, if international agreements are not reached; and
The meetings in Copenhagen require strong initiatives, goals, and cooperation.
The outcome of these meetings needs to prioritize safe, low-emissions growth for all developing countries; and new, clean-energy technologies for developed countries. Poor nations are currently at risk due a history of high levels of consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from developed countries. For most international leaders, this poses an ethical dilemma that requires immediate attention. In fact, most leaders agree that it is overdue for urgent action to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions and moderate extreme climatic events.
What will define success for COP15? Industrialized countries need to declare strict targets by pledging immediate emissions cuts by 2020, thereby averting more serious climatic extremes. (Russia recently pledged to reduce its emissions by 22-25% over 1990 levels which is an exciting, recent announcement.) Second, developing countries need to define their goals more clearly. For example, Brazil has pledged to reduce emissions by 36-39% from current levels, and South Korea by 30%. These announcements are truly exemplary. Third, clarity on the finance to support developing countries is critical to the UNFCCC agenda; wealthy countries need to fund the reduction of carbon emissions and/or pay credits for their history of excessive emissions. And fourth, international agreement on how such funds will be deployed and how emissions will be monitored is a final priority for the agenda. All of these actions require international cooperation. Scientists and policy-makers agree that the destruction of forests, the melting of glaciers, and the expansion of infectious diseases are suicidal for humankind. So, all countries anticipate a spirit of cooperation and creativity to succeed in Copenhagen.
If there is no success at COP15, then the future is certainly jeopardized for our children. The stakes are high. Creating international standards to insure clean air, water, and sustainable use of resources for the next generation is critical, with our global population predicted to reach 8 billion over the next two decades.
Join CanopyMeg for a life-changing expedition from the mouth of the Amazon towards the headwaters during April 4-20 2010. She will be co-leading a boat excursion in conjunction with The Explorers Club — participants will learn about canopy research, biodiversity, conservation, and medicinal plants along the way — for full prices and details, please phone the toll-free number in this attachment. View PDF .
5/11/09 Update: This is the last call to organize a symposia at the 5th International Canopy Conference being organized by ATREE on “Forest canopies : Conservation, Climate change and Sustainable use” during 25th – 31st October 2009, Bangalore, India, The deadlines for organizing a symposium have been extended from 3rd April 2009 to 20th May 2009, and please find the guidelines on http://canopy2009.org/html/sub2.html
Social events at the conference include a Canopy Art exhibition, Canopy Photo and Film festival and public lectures along with other traditional events.
Please find more information on www.canopy2009.org, and forward this to your colleagues to make this conference a success.
2/16/09 Update: The theme for this conference is Forest Canopies: Conservation, Climate Change and Sustainable Use. The conference program will include keynote and plenary speakers on critical topics, invited and contributed scientific symposia, methods workshops, a student symposium, poster sessions, field trips, a film festival and traditional canopy social events
You can now visit www.canopy2009.org for more information and please forward to your colleagues. ATREE invites you to present your work at the conference. Your active participation will help meet global challenges and make this conference a success. Dr. Meg Lowman is co-chairing this international event.
————–
SAVE THESE DATES!!!!!
5th International Canopy Conference 2009 Forest Canopies: Conservation, Climate Change, and Sustainable Use
October 25-31 2009 Bangalore INDIA
Forest canopies are the least explored habitats in the world. They not only support high terrestrial biodiversity, but also represent a critical interface between the atmosphere and the earth. Forest canopies also provide goods and services to support diverse human activities. Thus interactions between forests and humanity offer opportunities to explore sustainable use of such resources, particularly for sustaining local livelihoods. Sustainability is vital for environmental policies to foster conservation, sustainable use and mitigation/adaptation to climate change. This demands the integration of canopy science with physical science, social science and information technology.
The 5th international canopy conference in 2009 will bring diverse professionals together to build inter-disciplinary links in canopy science to foster increased understanding of this unique subset of forest ecosystems. ATREE (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment) is the major supporting institution for the conference, with Convenors Dr. Soubadra Devy (soubadra@atree.org) and Dr. T. Ganesh (tganesh@atree.org). Dr. Kamal Bawa and Dr. Margaret Lowman will serve as co-chairs. The goal of the conference will be to highlight the respect to important global challenges, especially climate change, sustainability, and conservation. The conference will provide an opportunity to build networks across continents, to facilitate capacity-building, and to address issues requiring information from multiple sites, within countries and across continents. The proceedings of the conference will be published in an edited volume, with a subset of papers published as a special issue of an international journal. Special sessions will be held on: Education; Climate Change; Ecosystem Services and Sustainability Initiatives; Innovative Tools; and an Emerging Issues Round Table discussion.
Special features of the conference include:
All-day field trip to view Indian forests and inspire discussion
Canopy film festival (similar to the successful programs from the 1st conference)
Canopy awards ceremony
Student session
Publiclecture to promote canopy education
Opening Plenary talk by Thomas E. Lovejoy, President, H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
Save these dates! A timeline leading up the conference will be:
Please contact Soubadra or Ganesh (emails above) with suggestions for speakers that may represent new, unpublished, innovative canopy projects around the globe.
TREE Foundation is celebrating its 10th birthday in 2010, as well as the 10th anniversary of our flagship project, the Myakka River State Park canopy walkway. Over the past 10 years, thousands of visitors have learned about forest canopies by walking through the treetops, and hundreds of thousands of additional visitors to our websites have learned about forest conservation. In honor of our decadal birthday, TREE is launching a tree-planting project for southwest Florida. Beginning on April 22 (Earth Day), TREE is partnering with 
5/11/09 Update: This is the last call to organize a symposia at the 5th International Canopy Conference being organized by ATREE on “Forest canopies : Conservation, Climate change and Sustainable use” during 25th – 31st October 2009, Bangalore, India, The deadlines for organizing a symposium have been extended from 3rd April 2009 to 20th May 2009, and please find the guidelines on 