Customer Reviews

It's a Jungle Up There: More Tales from the Treetops

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What a really terrific read! In this book Dr. Lowman has co-authored with her sons, we find a beautiful story of developing a conservation ethic for families. The tone is so positive and inviting, I felt like I was up in the canopy with them.

One of the really captivating elements of this book is the wonderful journal notes and essays by her sons. Their authentic voices make this a great book to share with young people. For example, her son's last touching essay in the book summarizes their family quest to combine science and spirituality in efforts to expand scientific research into a more global sense of responsibility through conservation. This is a topic seldom touched in science writing. What wise thoughful teenagers!

What I loved most about this book was that many parts of Lowman's story are the story of women in science, my story, about the challenges of balancing a career and the rest of our lives. Lowman's book is just the ticket for inspiration AND some reassurance that we can have a well-lived life that combines a passion for science with family and community. I am in awe of the courage it must have taken to share such a personal story, filled with adventure, challenge, adversity in the work place, loss, humor, and quite a few poisonous snakes. We could use an Earth of sons and daughters raised by her.

Lowman really is a role model for parents to become stewards of all of Earth's creatures, and her passion and work efforts certainly have made inroads to this goal. Through this story, Dr. Lowman and her sons will inspire and mentor thousands of current and future naturalists, both boys and girls. As I finished the last pages of this book, I decided I need to find my copy of her earlier book "Life in the Treetops" and read it again. What a terrific adventure.

I highly recommend "It's a Jungle Up There" and will be giving copies to all the young people I know for birthdays, graduations, and other celebrations. And I believe I will share it with a few adults who could use a great read, and a little vicarious adventure.

I suppose it depends what you're expecting. I felt a little deceived having read 'It's a Jungle Up There', not that it's Lowman's fault. The packaging, press and quotes suggested it might be something more, say along the lines of E O Wilson. But this is not an original look at man's relationship to the world. It's more of a cheerleading exercise for the mixture of motherhood and biology. It's filled with enthusiasm for nature, but also with personal asides and exlamation marks. ("Happy Anniversary Michael!"). At the risk of sounding like a real grinch, the book is unforgivably padded by pages written by her two sons. All of these essays, of which there are many, read like college applications. It's a thin book, aimed perhaps at a younger generation. People looking for meatier stuff should keep on looking.

Notes on Margaret Lowman's book, "It's a Jungle Up There---More tales from the Treetops," with Edward and James Burgess. Yale University Press, 2006.


Margaret Lowman is a remarkable woman scientist. I say this not only after reading this book and her first book, "Life in the Treetops," but because I had the rare opportunity to be her Executive Assistant for 8 months during 2002-2003 while employed at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. Meg is an inimitable, intriguingly interesting scientist, enthusiastic about canopy research, ecology, and her family. This excitement exudes from within her into one's very own, and no matter what one does, it cannot be ignored.

Likewise, "It's a Jungle Up There," is also enthralling. Her many scientific pursuits are entwined with her two boys' experiences in the field with her, into a wonderful and educational view of the world, its ecology and the workings of the world's ecosystems. For many single parents, Meg sets the stage as a fine example of "get up and go," and "leave no stone unturned." There appeared to be no obstacle that could not be overcome by personal persistence, with the end result of reaching the goal. Even small setbacks were used as stepping stones to move forward and to be used to a positive advantage.

Her chapters on canopy research, canopy walkways, encounters with internationals, and environmental ethics for families, educate the novice in this comparatively new research area. Providing her children with an always new and exciting way to experience life through nature is certainly an example parents and teachers should emulate.

The book is comfortable to read, has a glossary of terms and a selected bibliography for further reading on each chapter. An index of names and places referred to in the text also assists the reader for quick reference.

Both Meg's books are fine examples demonstrating what a person can do if willing to accept the challenges offered. Do some self-promotion and be cognizant of an ever-increasing need to be a guardian of the world's biosphere. As her Executive Assistant for even a very brief time, I am proud to have shared some of the pages of "the padded chair" with her, and will always recall Meg as a fair, straight and honest supervisor.


Susan A. Jarzen CPS
Secretary, Florida Museum of Natural History
February 27, 2006

This book is a great read. Written by a mom-scientist and her two sons, it offers a captivating look into some of the most interesting natural environments around the world-all viewed from the treetops. Armchair ecologists, parents, kids, teachers, and tree climbers interested in adventure, science, and/or world travel will thoroughly enjoy this book. It's the perfect follow-up to Life in the Treetops.

Many of the anecdotes are laugh-out-loud funny (like hiding "the possible" in Samoa) while others are extremely touching. The photographs and drawings make this book feel like a family album of the most extraordinary kind.

Although the author and her sons have spent much time high in the tree tops and in the stratosphere of world-famous scientists, they come across as extremely down-to-earth, likeable folks. Our kids especially enjoyed hearing what the author's sons have to say about their own experiences as well as their reflections on religion, their mom's career, and our imperiled environment. We all came away with a new respect for plant ecology and a greater love of science and scientists.

It's a Jungle Up There is dedicated to parents "who struggle to balance career and family." The author, an internationally acclaimed scientist, gives a forestful of hope that it can be done.
The essays contributed by Eddie and James Burgess as they work in exotic locations, side by side with their Mom's rainforest research teams, show their path to Princeton University that is paved with respect for nature and for their fellow travelers on this fragile planet. Dr. Lowman informs and entertains on every page, making the reader understand how much better our daily lives can be with just a little bit of willingness to consider the interdependence of all human and natural ecosystems.
The authors write with wit and insight about navigating through all of the (natural and man-made)jungles of life. It's a great read.

Meg Lowman is one of the foremost canopy ecologists of our time. Her work has advanced canopy access and our understanding of the importance of canopies for sustainability of global processes, as well as helping communities around the world to develop local opportunities through conservation and ecotourism. Having worked with Meg on several projects, I have witnessed her passion for canopy science and canopy conservation, as well as her dedication to her family. This book reflects both the substance of her work and the balancing act faced by many professionals who strive to achieve career goals and meet family needs. Meg has done an extraordinary job, especially during a time when she was a single parent, and is to be commended for sharing her experience for the benefit of others. Both sons are now in graduate programs and establishing their own careers in science and technology. Incorporating their perspectives and experiences in this book gives expression to the challenges and joys of exploration and demonstrates Meg's success in instilling a passion for learning in them. I highly recommend this book to those interested in the forest canopies as the high frontier, the excitement of field work and community development in remote locations, and the balance of professional goals and parenthood.

Do you want you and your family to be inspired by the wonders science reveals to the world? This book can get you there. Dr Lowman and her children have made ecology and adventure part of their lives, traveling into the treetops to see how this delicate ecosystem works. They will make you understand the joys of adventure and the possibilities for discovery on a little understood planet.