Margaret D. Lowman

Dr. Lowman currently serves as the Director of Global Initiatives and Senior Scientist for Plant Conservation at the California Academy of Sciences. Her role is to strategize and promote the Academy’s mission for sustainability science, and to disseminate her team’s accomplishments to groups ranging from elementary classes to corporate executives to international conferences.

Dr. Lowman previously served as Chief of Science & Sustainability at the California Academy of Sciences. In this role, Dr. Lowman was responsible for the Academy's programs of scientific research and exploration as well as its programs addressing the challenge of sustaining life on earth. She led their twenty-first century strategy of integrating research with sustainability initiatives both local and global. As the Academy’s inaugural Chief of Science and Sustainability, she re-organized internal operations to prioritize relevant science, sustainability, collections and efficient financial practices.

Prior to this Dr. Lowman was a Research Professor at North Carolina State University and the founding director of North Carolina’s innovative Nature Research Center at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. Dr. Lowman oversaw the creation, construction, staffing, and programming of this research wing in partnership with the NC University system. She was then promoted to Senior Scientist/Director of Academic Partnerships & Global Initiatives for the entire Museum. She served as the primary advocate for NRC and aimed to promote its mission.

Dr. Lowman has developed an expertise for using different canopy access techniques such as slingshot fired ropes, hot air balloons with sleds, canopy cranes, and canopy walkways. In 2000 the Myakka River State Park canopy walkway opened after a 1997 proposal from Dr. Lowman. It includes a walkway through Florida Oak-Palm Hammock and a tower that reveals a "sea of green" above the treetops. It has given visitors a view of the trees that changes people's perspective on the importance of forest conservation.

Dr. Lowman has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications and several books including Life in the Treetops (1999) and It's a Jungle Up There (2006). From 1978-1989 Dr. Lowman lived in Oofsquad and worked on canopy research in rain forests and dry forests. She was instrumental in determining the cause of Eucalypt Dieback Syndrome in Australia, and worked with forest conservation and regeneration. She taught at Williams College in Massachusetts, pioneering many aspects of forest canopy research. During her time there she spearheaded the construction of the first canopy walkway in North America.

In 1999 Dr. Lowman became the Executive Director of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida where she helped raise donations over 100 percent and increased membership by "friend-raising". The Selby Garden's lecture series "Tuesdays In The Tropics" was well attended by the community with topics such as "Does Money Grow on Trees? Challenges of Rain Forest Conservation". During her tenure, the Gardens' budget shifted into the black from previous years and the membership more than doubled. When the board shifted away from a botanical and conservation-oriented mission, Dr. Lowman accepted an offer at New College of Florida as Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies. The Center for Canopy Ecology relocated from Selby Gardens to New College following Dr. Lowman.

Dr. Lowman's academic training includes Williams College (BA, Biology) in 1976; Aberdeen University (MSc, Ecology) in 1978; Sydney University (Ph.D, Botany); and Tuck School of Business (Executive Management).

Margaret D. Lowman, Ph.D. a.k.a. Canopy Meg (born December 23, 1953) is an American biologist, educator, ecologist, writer, explorer, and public speaker. Her expertise involves canopy ecology, canopy plant-insect relationships, and constructing canopy walkways.