5th grade students thankful for Skype session with CanopyMeg
Fifth grade students at Blue Point Elementary School in Blue Point, New York had the opportunity to Skype with CanopyMeg and ask great questions. Their teacher, Stacey Loeffler, stated the following: “Thank you so very much, Dr. Lowman! Our students are so thankful that they had the opportunity to speak with you! You made our […]
5th Graders in Ohio Read about CanopyMeg’s Research and Meet a Scientist!
Amber Hershberger is a fifth grade language arts teacher at Faircrest Memorial Middle School in Canton, Ohio. She and her class read and studied a book about CanopyMeg titled, “The Most Beautiful Roof in the World.” The students also had the opportunity to ask CanopyMeg questions during a Skype interview. Below is what Amber writes […]
Meg Lowman to Skype with Mr. White’s classes from viral special handshake video
Did you notice Dr. Meg Lowman’s name anywhere in this viral video? Dr. Lowman will be Skyping with Mr. White’s science classes in Charlotte, NC very soon! Update 2/13/2017: A photo from Mr. White’s class having their first Skype session with Dr. Lowman:
Exploring Exploration: A Field Scientist’s Perspective
“As Mark Twain so aptly claimed, ‘explore, dream, discover.’ Those three words will turn an ordinary child into the next Charles Darwin or Ernest Shackleton. The world urgently needs a new generation of explorers, not just to scale mountains or travel into outer space, but also to explore the interstices of our cells and the anomalies of our climate.” “In this day and age where computers and models can predict just about anything, we still need more explorers. We need parents to inspire their kids with the curiosity to explore and teachers to encourage their pupils and develop their capability to find things out for themselves.”
‘Canopy Meg’ Takes Study of Treetops to New Heights
From noozhawk.com: Biologist encourages students to pursue careers in science Conservation biologist Meg Lowman (affectionately known as “Canopy” Meg) spoke about her career and her work at a recent Channel City Club meeting. A lifelong “arbornaut,” Lowman has been called the mother of canopy research and has spent her career exploring the biodiversity of the […]
‘Canopy’ Meg and the science of tree tops
Dr. Meg Lowman was recently in New Zealand looking at their trees and addressing the importance of forest conservation. Below is an article featuring Dr. Lowman followed by the interview with Wallace Chapman. Article from radionz: Dr Meg Lowman is the world’s first ‘arbonaut’ an expert in the field of forest canopy science. Nicknamed ‘Canopy Meg’, […]
Tracking Big Cats in India
When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another Heaven and another Earth must pass before such a one can be again.—William Beebe Celebrate International Tiger Day—July 29, 2016 In awe, we stopped dead in our tracks to gaze at the enormous impression in the wet sand. Our guide whispered, […]
Sex Sizzles In The Summer
“The earth laughs in flowers.”–Ralph Waldo Emerson An idyllic summer evening in nature evokes a smorgasbord of sights, smells, and sounds—golden sunsets, chirping crickets, light shows by blinking fireflies, and wafts of floral perfumes. For anyone who grew up in New England, this summer imagery may conjure a halcyon nostalgia of childhood. Now in adulthood, […]
CanopyMeg on Ode to Evolution Podcast
Dr. Meg Lowman is one of the scientists that appears on the first episode of the new “Ode to Evolution” podcast. This podcast “blends art, storytelling, and science to bring you tales of evolutionary research happening right now – in a format that is accessible to all ages.” Episode One “In this episode of the […]
Life in the lab
In her new book, Lab Girl, Hope Jahren transforms the sedentary, slow-growing lives of plants into a vibrant series of stories that are interwoven with tales of her own research career. “In the end, I am not sure which is more extraordinary, the plants or the woman who studies them,” writes reviewer Meg Lowman. Read […]
Thirty Years Later – Tribute to Andrew Field
The following article is a canopy tribute to Andrew Field written by entomologist, Daniela Izera, who worked in Venezuela from 1978 until 1992. I am an entomologist and I have worked in Venezuela from 1978 until 1992. During my stay I visited many of the Venezuelan universities; the UCV (Universidad Central de Venezuela) in Maracay […]
Mr. Klein’s fifth grade class learns about the rain forest during Skype session with CanopyMeg
Mr. Klein’s class learned about the rain forest from Canopy Meg and asked lots of great questions. Thank you to Mr. Jason Klein, 5th Grade Teacher at Clifford Wise Intermediate/Middle School, and all the students.
Fifth grade class Skype session with CanopyMeg
Mrs. Mahon’s 5th graders read “The Most Beautiful Roof in the World: Exploring the Rainforest Canopy” and then spoke to CanopyMeg via Skype from their classroom!
Women in Science 2016 Summit Summary
Entire video of the Women in Science Summit 2016 Videos shown at the Summit Dr. Sullivan’s video remarks for the 2016 Women in Science Summit: Message from Dr. Jane Goodall for the Women in Science Summit 2016: Links to Specific Segments of the Summit Welcome Remarks – Meg Lowman, Director of Global Initiatives at the […]
Meg Lowman with Rolex laureate Brukty Tigabu
Reunion in Addis (Ethiopia) with Rolex laureate Brukty Tigabu, who continues to inspire kids about health and science with her TV shows. I am proud to be her ‘bestie!’
Fifth grade Future Scientists of America Skype with CanopyMeg
The fifth grade students at North Rose-Wolcott Middle School and their teacher, Hannah Formella, asked great questions to CanopyMeg during an enriching skype session.
An interview with the ‘real-life Lorax’ on the Freshwater Talk Podcast
Nicknamed the “real-life Lorax” by National Geographic, Dr. Meg Lowman joins this episode of the Freshwater Talk podcast to talk about her experience as an arbornaut, scientist, and trailblazer.
The Joy of Unplugging: Turning Off Technology in the Amazon Jungle
“To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.”–Helen Keller Twenty-eight citizen scientists from the California Academy of Sciences traveled to the Amazon jungle for eight days this summer. Their mission: to document their observations of the forest canopy for science, and to contribute […]
Meg Lowman – September 14th at 1pm EST on Google Hangouts
Join “Canopy Meg” and learn about the world of biodiversity high above the floor of the rainforest and the innovations that allow this challenging ecosystem to be studied.
Amazon Rainforst Research Expedition ISP 2015
Video of New College (my former academic world) students in the Amazon, led by my successor in Ecology, awesome Professor Chris Frost!
Publications
Margaret Lowman Catalog of Publications
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Books | Theses | National Leadership Reports | Journal Articles | CV
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Books
- Lowman MD and Yaroslava Yashchuk, 2025. CanopyMeg Chronicles 2 – What Next? In press.
- Lowman MD. Tree Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Arboreal Lives. University of Chicago Press, August 2025.
- Lowman MD and Yaroslava Yashchuk. 2023. CanopyMeg Chronicles – Peppertree Press.
- Lowman MD. The Arbornaut. A memoir. Farrer, Strauss & Giroux, August 2021.
- Frost C and M Lowman. In prep. Forest Canopies – third edition. Springer/Elsevier.
- Lowman MD, S Azizah Mohd Nor, N Ruppert (editors). In press. Biodiversity Survey on Penang Hill, Malaysia. USM Publishers.
- Lowman MD. 2017. Muddy Boots – essays of a field biologist. Peppertree Press, 148 pp.
- Lowman MD. 2016. Through the Year with Gertrude Grosbeak. Peppertree Press, children’s book.
- Lowman, M.D. and W Mulat. 2014. Beza – Who Saved the Forests of Ethiopia, One Church at a Time. Peppertree Press (children’s book), both English and Amharic versions.
- Lowman, M.D., S. Devy, and T. Ganesh. 2013. Treetops at Risk. (Springer Verlag).
- Lowman, M.D., Schowalter T., & Franklin J. 2012. Methods in Forest Canopy Research (University of California Press).
- Lowman, M.D., J. Burgess and E. Burgess. 2006 It’s a Jungle Out There – More Tales from the Treetops. Yale University Press. 291 pp. (Paperback, 2008; reprinted in Korean, 2009).
- Lowman M.D. and H.B. Rinker. 2004 Forest Canopies. Elsevier Press.
- Lowman, M.D. 1999. Life in the Treetops. Yale University Press. (Editions in German, Chinese and Korean; paperback version in 2002)
- Lowman, M.D. and N.M. Nadkarni (eds.) 1995. Forest Canopies. Academic Press 624 pp. (Second Edition in paperback 1996)
- Lowman, M.D. (ed.) 1992. Ecology of Hopkins Forest. Williams College Printers. 100 pp
- Heatwole, H. & M.D. Lowman. 1986. Dieback: The Death of an Australian Landscape, Reed & Co. 150 pp.
- Lowman, M.D. 1974. Some Aspects of the Fabric of Life, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare 204 pp.
National Leadership Reports
- Lowman MD. 2024. Mission Green – a prospectus.
- Meg Lowman, signatory to, The 2023 state of the climate report: Entering uncharted territory
- Aldo Leopold Leadership Program. 2019. Environmental leadership case studies. Chapter on Ethiopian church forests and bottom-up conservation.
- Lowman, M.D. 2012. Health and environment – kids and treehouses. http://www.epa.gov, blog from Women and Environment White House summit.
- NEON Tiger Team. 2008. Education Plan. http://www.neoninc.org/documents/tigerteam
- Sarasota County Environmental Initiatives, FL (2004 – 2009) series of quarterly reports over 5 years to document environmental programs: invasive reptiles, science education outreach, development of Land Institute, conservation action plans, and other activities.
- NEON ISEP. 2006. National Ecological Observatory Network, Integrated Science and Education Plan. National NEON Design Committee, M.D. Lowman – co-chair education group, contributed to ISEP plan and writing.
- Lowman, M.D. 1974. Some Aspects of the Fabric of Life, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare 204 pp.
Theses
- Lowman, M.D. 1982. Leaf Growth Dynamics and Herbivory in Australian Rain Forest Canopies. Ph.D. Thesis. Sydney University (Supervisor: Peter Myerscough).
- Lowman, M.D. 1978. Phenology and Productivity of Betula pendula and B. pubescens in Scotland. Master’s Thesis. Aberdeen University (Supervisor: Peter Ashton).
- Lowman, M.D. 1976. Phenological Phenomena and Growth Studies for 16 Northern Hardwoods. Honors Thesis. Williams College (Supervisor: Henry Art).
Journal Articles (peer-reviewed except those with *)
- K.M. Klemow, A.R. Berkowitz, C.R. Cid, T.A. Langen, M.D. Lowman, G. Middendorf, J.A. Reynolds. 2026. A Century of Learning: The Story of ESA’s Education Committee, 1918–2025. The Ecological Society of America (ESA) Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.70089
- Moore, A., W.R. Miller & M.D. Lowman, Subm. Tardigrades of the Canopy: Milnesium martafischeri nov sp. (Eutardigrada: Apochela: Milneslidae) from Oregon, USA
- Caviglia-Harris, J., K. E. Hodges, B. Helmuth, E. M. Bennett, K. Galvin, M. Krebs, K. Lips, M. Lowman, L. A. Schulte, and E. A. G. Schuur. 2021. The six dimensions of collective leadership that advance sustainability objectives: rethinking what it means to be an academic leader. Ecology and Society 26(3):9.
- WR Miller, H Cotten, SAM Nor, MD Lowman. 2021. Tardigrades of Malaysia: New records of occurrence from Penang Hill. In: Kansas Biology Transactions.
- S Saatchi, M Longo, L Xu, Y Yang, H Abe, MD Lowman (2021). Detecting vulnerability of humid tropical forests to multiple stressors. Science Direct. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.06.002
- Caviglia-Harris, J., K. E. Hodges, B. Helmuth, E. M. Bennett, K. Galvin, M. Krebs, K. Lips, M. Lowman, L. A. Schulte, and E. A. G.
Schuur. 2021. The six dimensions of collective leadership that advance sustainability objectives: rethinking what it means to be an
academic leader. Ecology and Society 26(3):9. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12396-260309 - Charles H. Cannon1, Colby Borchetta1, David L. Anderson, Gabriel Arellano, Martin Barker, Guillaume Charron, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Jeannine H. Richards, Ethan Abercrombie, Lindsay F. Banin, Ximena Tagle Casapia, Xi Chen, Polina Degtjarenko, Jane E. Dell, David Durden, Juan Ernesto Guevara Andino, Rebeca Hernández-Gutiérrez, Andrew D. Hirons, Chai-Shian Kua, Hughes La Vigne, Maurice Leponce, Jun Ying Lim, Margaret Lowman, Andrew J. Marshall, Sean T. Michaletz, Benjamin B. Normark, Darin S. Penneys, Gerald F. Schneider, Joeri S. Strijk, Bashir B. Tiamiyu, Tara L. E. Trammell, Yalma L. Vargas-Rodriguez, Samantha R. Weintraub-Leff, Alexis Lussier Desbiens and Matthew Spenko. (2021). Extending Our Scientific Reach in Arboreal Ecosystems for Research and Management
- WR Miller, H Cotten, SAM Nor, MD Lowman. July 2021. TARDIGRADES OF MALAYSIA: NEW RECORDS OF OCCURRENCE FROM PENANG HILL.
- Moore A, MD West, L Tibbs, WR Miller, C Johansson, MD Lowman. Submitted. July 2021. Tardigrades of the canopy: a new genus for Acanthechiniscus goedeni (Heterotardigrada: Eschiniscoidea: Echiniscidae) from Oregon USA. Zootaxa. (first authors were undergraduate students)
- *MD Lowman, Leon Kagonovskiy, and Caroline Haley. (2020). Herbivory in the Malaysia Rain Forest Canopy, Penang Hill
- Wayne P. Sousa, Kyle E. Harms, Claudia M. Tyler, Margaret D. Lowman, Michael J. Keough, Peter T. Green, Allan Stewart-Oaten (2021). Resolution of Respect Joseph Hurd Connell (1923-2020). The Ecological Society of America (ESA) Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1846
- *Lowman MD. David K. Goodin, Alemayehu Wassie. (2019). The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Forests and Economic Development. The Case of Traditional Ecological Management.
- *Lowman M. (2019). Life in the treetops—An overview of forest canopy science and its future directions. Plants, People, Planet. 2020;00:1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10125
- *Lowman MD. (2019). Life in the Treetops – A Planetary Biodiversity Hotspot
- Lowman M., Ruppert N, Mohd Nor SA. Further advancing the expert bioblitz for the rainforest conservation toolkit. Conservation
Science and Practice. 2019;1:e2. - Prashanth Ballullaya U, Manoj Kandoth, Rajesh TP, KS Reshmi, MD Lowman. 2019. Stakeholder motivation for the conservation of sacred groves in south India: an analysis of environmental perceptions of rural and urban neighborhood communities. Land Use Policy (in press). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104213
- Qing Pei, Guodong Li, BP Winterhalder, MD Lowman. 2019. Regional patterns of pastoralist migrations under the push of reduced precipitation in imperial China. Global Ecology and Biogeography 00:1-11. DOI: 10.1111/geb.13040. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13040
- Lowman MD. 2019. Methoden der baumkronen-forschung im wald. IN: Jahrbuch der Baumpflege (Yearbook of Arboriculture) 2019. (Ed D. Dujeseifken). Haymarket Media. Pp. 111-121.
- WR Miller, H Cotton, SA Kimball, MD Lowman. 2019. Tardigrades in the canopy: from outreach to classroom to science. (In press).
- Waymire A, M DuBuc, WR Miller, MD Lowman. 2019. Tardigrades in the canopy: an analysis of arboreal habitats. (In press).
- David K. Goodin, Alemayehu Wassie, M.D. Lowman (2019) The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Forests and Economic Development: The Case for Traditional Ecological Management, Journal of Religion & Society, 21: 1-23
- Lowman MD, L Nkaganovsky, C Haley. 2019. Herbivory in the Malaysian rain forest canopy, Penang Hill. IN: The Biodiversity of a Malaysian Rain Forest, Penang Hill. Malaysian Forestry Service Publications.
- Lowman MD, S Azizah Mohd Nor, N Ruppert. 2018. Advanc