Quechee, VT – At its recent 50th Anniversary celebration, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science was honored with a first-of-its-kind recognition. Presented by Dr. Margaret “Canopy Meg” Lowman, VINS was given a Platinum Plaque from Mission Green, a new program whose mission it is to save 10 of the world’s most endangered forests by 2030 through the creation of canopy walkways.
“In honor of your [forest canopy] walkway,” said Dr. Lowman, “Mission Green, this new program that is now building walkways to save the forests of the world, wants to present the first Platinum Plaque to the VINS walkway for bringing kids and families together to appreciate trees and to be part of the family of global canopies and help the future generation have a healthy planet.”
Meg Lowman is a scientist and author and is known as a global pioneer in forest canopy ecology. She is a tireless educator and advocate for girls, women, and minorities in science. Her design and implementation of the first public canopy walk at the Myakka River State Park in Sarasota, FL was a major inspiration for VINS’ forest canopy walk. She continues to inspire humans across the globe to understand, value, and protect forests and their incredible diversity.
“Now we realize, thanks to canopy research and walkways like yours [at VINS], forests are worth millions of dollars,” said Dr. Lowman. “They store carbon, they house the world’s genetic library for the future, which has medicines, fruits, flowers, and all kinds of important things. I will be able to save ten of the world’s most endangered forests by using the VINS [canopy walkway] model in other places. We could use canopy walkways as this amazing economic model to help all of these different countries save their genetic libraries by preserving the most important forest canopies.”
VINS is honored to have been the freshman recipient of this prestigious award. To learn more about Mission Green and Meg Lowman, visit www.mission-green.org. To learn more about VINS’ forest canopy walk and plan a visit to the treetops of Vermont, visit www.vinsweb.org. You can also purchase Meg Lowman’s fascinating book, The Arbornaut: A Life Discovering the Eighth Continent in the Trees Above Us, in the VINS Nature Store at the Nature Center or online at store.vinsweb.org.