In keeping with the Trees theme, the book I am reviewing in this issue of my newsletter is The Arbornaut: A Life Discovering the Eighth Continent in the Trees Above Us by Meg Lowman, a book Bill found for me. Her story is an amazing memoir of a woman scientist who explores treetops.

You may ask how she does this? Lowman developed initially simple methods using a sling shot, ropes, and a homemade harness to climb tall trees. After studying the leaf canopy of stunted birches in Scotland, she moved on to the Australian rain forest where she needed to climb coachwood trees one hundred feet into the canopy. To study the foliage of tall trees, she examined and recorded leaves during a growing season. She devised methods to mark leaves so she could return and check on their growth and insect damage. I know this sounds unbelievable, but she adhered to the scientific method to produce peer-reviewed research articles.

Leaves in the upper canopy look and feel different from the ones below, always shaded by the treetops. These leaves growing in the sunshine produce food that is transported through the branches and trunks to the roots. From Suzanne Simard’s book (see my most recent blog post), because they can photosynthesize, the leaves are the source of chemical energy, “the engines of life.” Lowman observed widespread insect damage (chewing) to the leaves and a large community of insects, some never seen or named before her explorations. Her knowledge of entomology needed to increase as well as her collaborations.

In her work over the years, the evidence of climate change was clear to her before it became central to our lives. She first saw the rain forests after they had already been dramatically reduced and then has watched as they continued to suffer. She writes vividly about what she has seen. But more than watch and write, she has made it her life’s work to bring people into the forests and into the canopy.

She suggests three steps to conserve forests. “First we must make sure all humans have a chance to encounter the awe-inspiring wonders of trees. . . Second, we must be mindful of our spending and how we (perhaps inadvertently) contribute to the loss of trees.” And third, “become a citizen scientist.” Make it possible for children to experience the critical pastime of playing outdoors.

You will find much more in this book including descriptions of her real-life experiences of a woman scientist, some sobering. She writes about her childhood, her children, her many travels, and her research. There may be some tree and leaf botany that slows you down but keep climbing through it. Her story keeps the reader going.