Real-Life Lorax

‘Real-Life Lorax’ Gives Speech at Elon University

Margaret Lowman’s take on women in science

She’s been called the “real-life lorax” by National Geographic, “Einstein of the treetops” by the Wall Street Journal and is nicknamed Canopy Meg, but that might not be a surprise when you find out about Margaret Lowman’s career.

Lowman has spent her career becoming a pioneer in the field of rainforest canopy ecology. She established her love of science at a young age, coming in second place at a New York State Science fair when she was in elementary school. “All of my love for nature came from playing outdoors,” she said.

Lowman continued her studies and love of nature throughout college and graduate school. When she traveled to Australia to study the rainforest, she realized that it had never been done before. Using the single-rope climbing technique that she created, Lowman was able to climb thousands of trees and study species that were undiscovered up until that point.

[endif]--As a woman in science, Lowman has had to endure scrutiny throughout her career. “We still don’t have an overwhelming number of women in our textbooks as role models in science,” Lowman said. “As one of the only females, I experienced a lot of backlash and it was very disheartening. I really had to prove myself.” But Lowman knew that if she did this, it would pave the way for future woman in science. She persevered and is now one of the world’s experts in rainforest canopy studies.

“Fifty percent of the species of our world live in the canopies of trees,” Lowman said. “However, we know less than five percent about that 50 percent of species.” A rainforest can be up to 200 feet tall, but people would only study the first six feet if they just walked through. “It’d be like going to the doctor and him looking at your big toe and saying, ‘you’re good, you’re totally healthy,’” she explained.

Lowman and colleagues established new ways to study the other 194 feet. In 1985, they built the first canopy walkway in Queensland, Australia, allowing them to do cool research, especially with insects. “There are a lot of fantastic things we can do with this walkway in the sky,” she said.

On a trip to Samoa, Lowman and her colleagues used a walkway to help fund the building of a school. “We turned it over to the locals who could establish an income,” she said, “and not from destroying the trees. In two years, they were able to pay back the $53,000 loan and build the school.”

In addition to walkways, Lowman discussed other methods for reaching the highest points of the trees. One option is an old construction crane that has a gondola attached to it, which allows scientists access to anything inside the arm’s range.

Hot-air balloons are another method that has been developed to research rainforests. “Hot-air balloons are a way to study the top of the canopy, which is important for a lot of things,” Lowman said. “Now that we have this toolkit, we have this big problem - we are losing these canopies, we are losing these rainforests. We have to look towards preservation.”

“I’ve decided to be a mentor to as many women as possible,” Lowman added. “Teaching women how to climb trees is very empowering to them.” This incorporates her trips to places like Ethiopia, where she has worked with the church on forest conservation.

“There are no field guides, no Henry David Thoreau to give women and kids an understanding of what grows in their ecosystems,” she said. “They are like sponges wanting to know what is going on in their ecosystem. We have these willing, amazing field assistants, but we have to figure out how to give them the tools to sustain this kind of knowledge.”

Lowman has spent the recent years of her career traveling around the world teaching people of different countries about preservation techniques and teaching people, especially women, about canopy examination. “We need to make our resources available in their language,” she said. “We can share our resources with women in other countries so they can benefit from this.”

“Women have always been in the minority,” Lowman concluded. “Maybe in the future we can change that. Follow your passion. Think about what you love and hopefully you’ll get to execute that.”

![endif]--