Thesis Student Bryson Voirin Publishes Article, Photographs in National Magazine

Voirin, an environmental studies student from Winter Springs, Fla., who graduates from New College in May, is the author of "The Seclusion of the Sloth: A Journey into the World of Canopy Animals." In the article, he chronicles his firsthand interactions – including being slashed by an irate mother sloth while attempting to catch her and her baby – and research high in the treetops of Panama rainforests.

Voirin's article recounts climbing 150 feet in Cecropia trees, while on the watch for nests of biting ants or hives of killer bees, in the humid heat of Panama in search of a sloth to capture for research. To fit the mammal with a radio collar and take measurements before releasing them, Voirin foregoes tranquilizers, preferring to capture them with "brute force."

Voirin was in Panama in early March working with a team of research scientists on a radio-telemetry project at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. His senior thesis is "Ecological Examination of Two- and Three-toed Sloths."

A year ago, Voirin was named to the "USA Today" 2006 Academic All-Star team, an annual listing of the top 60 undergraduate students in the United States based on academic and extracurricular achievement. In 2005, he received a highly competitive Udall Foundation scholarship, a $5,000 award for outstanding accomplishments working on environmental issues.

As a student, Voirin has worked closely with Dr. Meg Lowman, a biology and environmental studies professor at New College and internationally recognized rainforest-canopy researcher. Voirin accompanied Lowman to Cornwall, England, for the first Canopy Summit in September 2004.

In addition to conducting research locally in canopies of Myakka River State Park, Voirin conducted research on canopy herbivory in Panama, estimating insect consumption rates on leaves in the largest canopy trees in January 2004. Also while there, he assisted in an educational television production beamed to middle- and high-school classrooms around the world. In January 2005 in Peru, Voirin assisted on an expedition to collect data on canopy trees on the Amazon River.

At New College, Voirin also started the Tree Climbing Club, a student group that offers lessons in recreational and scientific climbing as well as opportunities for "Dinner in a Tree," dining suspended on ropes atop a 100-foot kapok tree near Sarasota Bay.

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New College of Florida is a national leader in the arts and sciences and is the State of Florida’s designated honors college for the liberal arts. Rated as the #1 public liberal arts college in America by U.S. News & World Report ("America's Best Colleges, 2007 Edition"), New College attracts highly-motivated, academically-talented students from throughout the United States, as well as 27 foreign countries.