New College research interns for TREE Foundation studying herbivory and Ethnobotany in the canopies of the Peruvian Amazon. The Wings World Quest exploration society bestowed an expedition flag upon the team of students, to be hung at 125 feet in the canopy of this emergent tree, Cedralinga sp. (Fabaceae).

“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!

TREE intern, Ricardo Rengifo, visited Sarasota, Florida as part of his canopy ecology and environmental education internship. Ricardo spoke at local elementary schools, explaining the importance of rain forest conservation. He also starred at the regional Earth Day festival, giving demonstrations with his blowgun to many children of all ages (including their parents). Ricardo worked at New college, learning from Dr. Lowman and her students about canopy ecology and new advances in environmental education outreach. As part of his internship, Ricardo will also travel to Washington DC, Charlotte NC, Minneapolis MN, and Chicago IL for school talks and to meet with tropical conservation biologists.

Ricardo thanks all the TREE donors who kindly sponsored his first-ever trip out of the Amazon jungle to visit the United States.

Photos:

UPDATE (9/7/08): Video by ABC 7 News of Ricardo’s visit:

Video of the Myakka Canopy Walkway construction

Photos of the construction are here.

Construction on the Myakka Canopy Walkway began on February 7th, 2000 at the Myakka River State Park in Sarasota, Florida. The structure was completed and dedicated in June 2000. Donations and grants from the Venice Foundation, Bank of America, The Selby Foundation, The Julius Brandenburg Foundation and other groups paid for the $75,000. walkway. The walkway allows researchers, school children and naturalists to examine the sub-tropical park from a new perspective.

Video of the construction is available here.

Additional audio can be found on Canopy Meg’s website here.