Titles

• Adjunct Professor, School of Sustainability

Biography

Margaret D. Lowman, a.k.a. “Canopy Meg”, was the founding director of the Nature Research Center in Raleigh, North Carolina; Executive Director of Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida; and inaugural Chief of Science and Sustainability at California Academy of Sciences.

Called the “real life Lorax” by National Geographic and the “Einstein of the treetops” by Wall Street Journal, Meg Lowman exudes a passion for trees and forest conservation. She is an author, explorer, scientist, arbornaut (translation: treetop explorer!), mom, and change-agent for conservation. As a child, she built tree-forts and collected wildflowers. In her adulthood, she has devoted over 3 decades to exploration of forest canopies, as one of the first pioneers in the field of treetop science. She has developed a creative toolkit for whole-forest exploration, including ropes and harnesses, canopy walkways, hot-air balloons and inflatables, cherry pickers, and construction cranes. Her research on forest conservation takes her to many countries that have relatively little scientific infrastructure, where she can make a difference and mentor girls at every opportunity. She applies her science to create sustainability practices both locally and globally; one of her signature projects is designing canopy walkways to encourage ecotourism for local income instead of logging.

Education

• PhD, Botany, University of Sydney, 1983
• MSc, Ecology, University of Aberdeen, 1978
• BA, Biology (minor in Environmental Studies; cum laude), Williams College, 1976