"Meg Lowman was always fascinated by the natural world above her head. The colors, the branches, and, most of all, the leaves and mysterious organisms living there. As a scientist, Meg set out to climb up and investigate the rain forest tree canopies-- and to be the first scientist to do so. But she encountered challenge after challenge. Male teachers would not let her into their classrooms, the high canopy was difficult to get to, and worst of all,...

Provides in-depth analysis of the life, works, career, and critical importance of Rachel Carson.

"Welcome to the eighth continent! As a graduate student exploring the rain forests of Australia, Meg Lowman realized that she couldn't monitor her beloved leaves using any of the usual methods. So she put together a climbing kit: she sewed a harness from an old seat belt, gathered hundreds of feet of rope, and found a tool belt for her pencils and rulers. Up she went, into the trees. Forty years later, Lowman remains one of the world's foremost arbornauts,...

Roads are the largest human artifact on the planet; they have fragmented wild landscapes and the wildlife that lives within them, ushered in the 'age of urban sprawl,' and challenged our sense of community. As the transportation crisis grows, a new generation of ecologists, engineers, planners and citizens are working to transform the future of the American road.. Shot in stunning locations throughout North America -- including Banff National Park,...

The Amazon is a vast laboratory for sustainable experiments that are revealing new relationships among human beings, corporations, and the natural heritage crucial for life on the planet. This is where the guidelines are being drawn up for a new global economic model: the green economy. With an astonishing soundtrack and cinematography, Eternal Amazon presents a critical analysis of how the world’s largest tropical rainforest is understood and utilized.....

"Early humans became keen observers of nature by tracking prey, identifying edible plants, and noting the time of year when different plants could be gathered. Humans began to learn about the relationships between living things and the environment. As the field of ecology grew, its focus went beyond the simple cataloging of living things in the world. Ecologists also became interested in understanding how living things function and how they interrelate...

"From the veteran New Yorker staff writer and award-winning author of The Experience of Place: an urgent, resounding call to protect half the earth's land--and thereby millions of its species--by 2050, that gives us the tools to think big about the planet and our role in conserving it. Beginning in the North American Boreal Forest that stretches through Canada, and roving across the continent from the Northern Sierra to Alabama's Paint Rock Forest...

"An engaging and thrilling tour of the new frontiers in mycology-from ecology to fermentation to medicine-introducing the reader to the fascinating characters involved in the fungal Renaissance. Fungi are fundamental to life. As decomposers, they are critical to the formation and sustenance of soils and ecosystems. As endlessly innovative chemists, they devise and secrete enzymes that can break down a vast variety of materials, mitigate bacterial...