presented by Dr. Natalia Bykova, University of Missouri-Columbia
Wednesday, August 7 – 7 pm
sponsored by Laurie Ebeling – State Farm Agent
Over the past four billion years, living organisms have played a key role in transforming and
creating everything from sediments and minerals to the global atmosphere and local climate.
It was various organisms – from bacteria to flowering plants and mammals – that turned the third
planet from the Sun into an inhabited world, created its current atmosphere, and significantly
influenced the composition of the World Ocean and the rocky shell – the lithosphere.
No significant mineral reserves—from organic coal and oil to seemingly inert gold—could be
formed without the influence of living organisms.
During Dr. Bykova’s fascinating presentation, she will walk through the substantial milestones
of the Earth’s evolution which were triggered by living organisms.