Left Bank Books, in downtown Belfast, invites the public to meet science and environmental journalist Laura Poppick on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 6:30 p.m., when she celebrates her just-released new book, Strata: Stories from Deep Time.

Poppick’s book is an original work that introduces readers to the researchers who have devoted their careers to understanding the events of deep time, including the world’s leading stegosaur scientist. She travels to sites as diverse as a Minnesotan iron mine and a corner of the Australian Outback.

"Ultimately, Poppick demonstrates that the planet’s oceans, continents, atmosphere, life, and ice have always conspired to bring stability to Earth," said Left Bank, in a news release.

The epic stories of our planet’s 4.5-billion-year history are written in strata—ages-old remnants of ancient seafloors, desert dunes, and riverbeds striping landscapes around the world. In Strata, Poppick decodes strata to lead us on a journey through four global transformations that made our lives on Earth possible: the first accumulations of oxygen in the atmosphere; the deep freezes of “Snowball Earth”; the rise of mud on land and accompanying proliferation of plants; and the dinosaurs’ reign on a hothouse planet.

Poppick is a science and environmental journalist whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Scientific American, Wired, Audubon, and National Geographic and elsewhere.

Joining Poppick in conversation will be science writer Kathryn Miles, author of five books including, most recently, Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders, which was named a Best Book by The New York Times (2022). Her work has appeared in dozens of national publications, and she teaches in several low-residency MFA programs and for the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance.

Admission to the event, which will take place at the bookshop, is by donation. Follow this link to reserve your seat(s) or visit Left Bank at leftbankbookshop.com for links to reserve seats for any of its upcoming events.

Questions? Call Left Bank Books at 207-338-9009, or email: info@leftbankbookshop.com. Ample free parking is available in front of the shop and in an adjacent city lot.