Globe-trotting forest champion "CanopyMeg" -- Dr. Meg Lowman, Executive Director of the Sarasota-based TREE Foundation -- has been selected by Arizona State University's Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability as the special guest speaker during its month-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. ASU ranks top in the U.S. and fifth in the world in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and as an internationally-recognized thought-leader on global sustainability though forest conservation, Dr. Lowman will discuss the TREE Foundation's international mission to create 10 canopy walkways around the world using the Myakka River State Park canopy walkway, which the foundation built in 1999, as the model. The free, hour-long talk is part of the school's Wrigley Speaker Series and will be broadcast via Zoom and available to thousands of participants across the globe on Tuesday, April 28, 2 p.m., Mountain Standard Time. Online registration is required at https://asuevents.asu.edu/content/moved-online-life-treetops-adventures-woman-field-biology

Dr. Lowman was also featured in the Miami Herald on Earth Day, April 22, in an opinion essay she co-authored with famed oceanographer and marine activist Dr. Sylvia Earle. The op-ed marks the launch of the TREE Foundation's Mission Green initiative to save the planet by saving forests. The op-ed is found at https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article242176696.html.

An Adjunct Professor at ASU's School of Sustainability, Dr. Lowman's talk will also highlight whole-forest exploration and how research is used to create sustainability practices on local and global scales, such as designing canopy walkways to encourage ecotourism for local income instead of logging. The Myakka River State Park canopy walkway serves as a model for forest research and education across the globe.

Wrigley Lectures are typically presented in person on the ASU campus. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, ASU restructured the event as a virtual one with the potential to engage thousands more participants. The event will be re-broadcast in entirety on ASU's social media on Thursday, April 30 at 4 p.m., and again at 5:30 p.m., both in Mountain Standard Time. Wrigley speakers are leaders in their field and past Wrigley speakers have included best-selling author Michael Pollan, and Dr. Vandana Shiva, recipient of the 2014 Alternative Nobel Peace Prize.

For more about the Tree Foundation.