Biologist Meg Lowman visited Elon University’s McCrary Theatre Wednesday night to deliver a presentation titled, “Out on a Limb."
Lowman, nicknamed the “real-life Lorax," “Einstein of the treetops” and “Canopy Meg," is a world-renowned biologist who has dedicated her entire life to studying canopies of the world.
But like all dreamers, her vocational path was not without adversity. In her case, gender was a major obstacle. She said scientists traditionally tend to be male. While a significant portion of Lowman’s lecture was dedicated to her story, accolades and findings, much attention was focused on her breakthrough role as a female biologist.
During her various expeditions in Australia, Cameroon, the Samoan island of Savai’i and several other places, Lowman noticed she was often the only female on the team. Occasionally, another female pioneer broke the mold alongside Lowman.
“On these expeditions, there tended to be one or two women on the team,” Lowman said. “It became harder when I had children and would bring them along because then my male team members would feel I only had half a brain to dedicate to the research we were doing.”
But Lowman proved her counterparts wrong by having her two sons assist with counting bugs and measuring leaves.
“They were my two intrepid field scientists," Lowman said.
Lowman is a self-described “geek." She said her passion for biology began at a young age when she collected plant samples from her yard and pressed them in between the pages of a phone book.
After beginning her career as a canopy biologist during her studies at the University of Sydney, Lowman started to realize the potential for discovery at the tops of the world’s forests.
Today, she reflects on findings from her canopy research.
“We now know that 50 percent of the world’s biodiversity is in its canopies,” Lowman said. “But we’ve only studied less than 5 percent of them.”
Lowman has earned countless awards for excellence in her work, including the Ecology Society of America’s Eugene P Odum Award for excellence in ecology education, the Mendel Medal for achievements in science and spirit, the Williams College Bicentennial Medal for achievements in tropical botany and the Garden Club of America’s Margaret Douglas Medal for excellence in conservation education.
Her peer-reviewed book, "Life in the Treetops: Adventures of a Woman in Field Biology," written in 1999, received critical acclaim from The New York Times.
But despite all of her noteworthy achievements, Lowman is most proud of blazing a trail for other women of the world to pursue their passions in the various sciences.
Junior Lexi Buchanan said she appreciated Lowman’s triumphs, including those beyond her status as an accomplished woman in a male-dominated field.
“It was inspiring to hear her story, and I’m not even trying to study that field,” Buchanan said. “And it’s more than just her being a woman. It was cool to see that someone put their mind to something and achieved it.”