Its a Jungle Up There.........

I recently posted about The January Series at Calvin College in

Grand Rapids, MI. This is the only lecture we were able to attend and what

a great lecture and topic. Imagine yourself floating 100 feet above the

Amazon rainforest floor, plucking leaves & flowers, photographing bugs,

seeing tropical birds literally where they live. All in a day's work for

Canopy Meg.......

As with most researchers, Margaret D.

Lowman is not well known publicly. Her

nickname is Canopy Meg. She is a

biological researcher in the forests'

canopy- or in simple terms - her work is

done at the very top of 500 -5000 year

old trees over 100 feet off the ground,

sometimes on a canopy crane, ropes &

pulleys, or even a hot air balloon.

She has studied the canopy biology of the Peruvian Amazon for over 20 years.

More than 70% of the species living in a tropical forest reside in the canopy,

the uppermost layer of the forest, and one of the least understood

environments on Earth.

The canopy is important because it serves as the interface between the

biosphere and the atmosphere, and is physically and biologically the most

active part of the forest.

As Director of Environmental Initiatives for New College Florida, she is a

Professor of Biology & Environmental Studies. She also gives lectures, takes

students on field trips to the Amazon to educate young people about the

rainforests and their role in the balance of life on our planet. She is a delightful

speaker, keeps her audience interested and amused. She had many amusing

anecdotes about being the only woman researcher living in primitive conditions!

She has also taken her 2 sons on many jungle expeditions and into the canopy

with her.

The way she explained it, the rainforests are ancient. They used to cover vast

distances in South America, Africa, and South East Asia -Australia. They act as

the lungs of our planet, giving off life giving oxygen and taking in carbon

dioxide in massive amounts. (remember Biology 101?) The rainforests are

under attack. We are losing thousands of acres of irreplaceable trees. To

illustrate her point, she told us about the seedlings of a rainforest tree. They

grow excruciatingly slowly. A seedling 6 inches high on the rainforest floor is

approximately 50 years old. You do the math.

The insects, birds, and flowers that grow and thrive at the canopy level have

just started to be cataloged and identified.

Most of the jungle research up to 20 years

ago was on the forest floor. Realizing she

wouldn't be able to get enough done in her

lifetime to scratch the surface, her mission

now is to educate young people, especially

young girls and encourage them to become

field biologists.

She has written several books:

Life in the Treetops - Adventures of a Field Biologist

It's a Jungle Out There - More Tales from the Treetops

Forest Canopies

All available on-line or check your local library/bookstore.

You can listen to her Calvin lecture here.

Copyright by Bonnie Westbrook 2007

Photos of Margaret Lowman's books courtesy of her website