Earth & Sky

Mom-scientist juggles family and career from treetops

Taking children into nature can be a bonding experience for families, and it can make for some good adventures.

Margaret Lowman is an acclaimed tree canopy ecologist at New College of Florida. She and her two sons, Edward and James, are the co-authors of “It’s a Jungle Up There.” It’s their account of growing up together doing rigorous science research high up in the trees.

Meg Lowman: As a mom, bringing young kids to the rain forest perhaps sounds like a dangerous occupation. They had to know where army ants were and how to identify them and make sure that tarantulas weren’t about to fall off the roof of the hut into their beds, which of course they thought was entirely humorous but I was a little worried about that.

Lowman said that you don’t have to go to the rain forest in order to appreciate nature with your family.

Meg Lowman: Quite honestly, if you think about having a picnic in the dark, or maybe one night letting your kid stay up until midnight to look at the fireflies with you, or sleeping out in the backyard when the meteor showers are going on, or heaven forbid, going out in the middle of a rainstorm together, there are a lot of things that kids would probably love to do with their parents if presented with that kind of choice.

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2 Comments for Mom-scientist juggles family and career from treetops

1. 1

   Oct 1, 06:04 PM #

   Neil says:

   Getting out and experiencing nature with my family gave me all my greatest memories of childhood. I think it’d be terribly sad to not have stayed out all night with Mom to protect me from the falling stars, or to not have run out into a rainstorm at least once. I really enjoyed reading about having your kids with you in the rainforest – it reminded me of how even a big back yard seemed like a jungle to me as a kid.

2. 2

   Nov 27, 05:41 PM #

   Dexia says:

   I think this was a very intresting article about a hard working mother of edward and james.