Saving trees and all
that lives in them
Exploring the Treetops
Educating Leaders
Pursuing Bottom-up Conservation Activities
My Passion for Science and Exploration
Personal motto?
No Child
Left Indoors
10-10-10-10-10
My Memoir, The Arbornaut
Background
After completing a Ph.D. program in Sydney in 1983, I remained in Australia for eight years demystifying rural eucalypt dieback epidemics and serving as the co-manager of a fifth-generation, family-owned Merino sheep and cattle business. Returning to the U.S. in 1991, I became CEO of Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida, growing its operation to profitability and ranking to one of America’s top ten botanical gardens. Following this, I was recruited into three academic/leadership positions: New College of Florida as its inaugural director of environmental initiatives; North Carolina State University, to direct the construction and launch of its Nature Research Center; and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco as Inaugural Chief of Science and Sustainability with the mission to “reinvent museum science.” I returned to Florida in 2019 to focus on global forest conservation with TREE Foundation and MISSION GREEN.
My nickname, Canopy Meg, was bestowed by Robert Ballard, discoverer of the RMS Titanic, some years ago, when he and I were chief scientists for the Jason Project and speaking to millions of middle school students during our virtual expeditions to the canopy and ocean floor, respectively.
Over the past 40 years, my work in forest canopy science involved groundbreaking work in 46 countries across all seven continents. I’ve co-chaired five international canopy conferences; authored over 150 scientific publications; and authored/co-authored many books on forest science and sustainability. My first book, “Life in the Treetops,” received a cover review in The New York Times Sunday Book Review. My academic training includes Williams College (BA, Biology); Aberdeen University (MSc, Ecology); Sydney University (Ph.D., Botany); Tuck School of Business (Executive Management Program), and Stanford University (Ald0 Leopold Leadership Program). I was selected as a Fulbright Senior Specialist Scholar to both India and Ethiopia.
My outside interests are diverse. I am the proud mother of two wonderful boys who grew up climbing trees around the world with their scientist-mom. Carolyn Shoemaker named an asteroid after me, comprising 16 acres circling Jupiter (16304 Lowman). My exploration across 46 countries has exposed me to amazing insects, including a love of “entomophagy” (yes, cooking bugs!). I enjoy birding, beaches, reading non-fiction books, and, of course, “all things nature.”