Southwestern Presents Geology Lecture Series: Precambrian Life on Land, June 6

Southwestern Oregon Community College announces that the final talk in the geology lecture series this academic year takes place on Saturday, June 7th at 7:00 pm with “Precambrian Life on Land” by Dr. Gregory Retallack (University of Oregon).  This free lecture is at the Hales Center for the Performing Arts on the SWOCC campus and is open to all members of the community.  Dr. Retallack earned his BA from Macquarie University, Australia and PhD from New England University, Australia. Following a postdoc at Indiana University, he joined the faculty at UO where he continues as Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and Director of the Condon Collection of the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.  His research group is dedicated to the proposition that soils have a fossil record, like other living things. Past studies have considered the role of soils in ape and human evolution in Kenya, grassland evolution in North America, dinosaur extinction in Montana, angiosperm evolution in Kansas, Late Permian mass extinction in Antarctica, and evolution of trees and tetrapods in Pennsylvania. Current and future studies concern Cambrian explosion on land, Precambrian life on land and martian paleosols, with fieldwork in Newfoundland and Australia.  This talk presents an overview of evidence for life on land back to the beginning of the useful fossil record, and a theoretical argument for the origin of life in soils.  All of the talks are free and start at 7:00 pm in the Hales Center for the Performing Arts on the SWOCC Campus in Coos Bay.   For those not able to attend in person, all lectures are Livestreamed and archived, with access from the college website at  www.socc.edu.  Continuing sponsors of the lecture series include Oregon Resources Corporation, the SWOCC Foundation and the College.  For additional information contact Ron Metzger at 541-888-7216 or rmetzger@socc.edu.