Big Muddy Speaker Series presents:
"The Amoeba in the Room and the Fungus in the Sky"
Faith in our senses has led to fundamental misunderstandings about the meaning of life. We see an elephant but the amoeba in the mud beneath its feet is more important for the health of the planet. We miscast ourselves too, regarding Homo sapiens as the principal marvel of creation. In fact, we are complex ecosystems, part animal part microbe, with trillions of bacteria in our gut that fuel our metabolism and even influence our thoughts. In this presentation, Professor Nicholas Money offers an overview of the microbial hegemony on earth and describes his recent research linking fungal spores to rainfall.
This poster was created for Nik's presentation.
Meet Your Presenter
Nicholas P. Money
, PhD, Miami University
Nicholas Money is a professor at Miami University and the author of the recent book "The Amoeba in the Room - Lives of the Microbes"
Nicholas P. Money, PhD, is an Anglo-American gentleman of letters and professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is an expert on fungal growth and reproduction. Nicholas has authored a number of popular science books that celebrate the diversity of the microbial world, including “Mr. Bloomfield’s Orchard” (2002), and “The Amoeba in the Room” (2014). His first novel, “The Mycologist: The Diary of Bartholomew Leach, Professor of Natural Philosophy,” is a comedy of errors and will be published in 2017.
Related Presentations
Resources & Links
Dig deeper for more info on this topic.
- AUDIO - "The Man Who Studies the Fungus Among Us" - interview with Nik Money broadcast on Fresh Air with Terri Gross, Jan. 18, 2012
- ARTICLE - "Raindrops keep falling on our head - Thanks to mushroom spores, that is" - blog by Elio Schaechter.
- RESEARCH - "Mushrooms as Rainmakers: How Spores Act as Nuclei for Raindrops" - Hassett, Fischer, Money
- VIDEO - "Top 10 Things to Know about Fungi"
- VIDEO - "Nicholas P. Money at the San Francisco Public Library, 2014"
- VIDEO - "Who are the invisible rulers of our planet?"
Nicholas Money Books
- "Mushrooms - a Natural and Cultural History" - 2017
- "Fungi - A very short introduction" - 2016
- "The Amoeba in the Room - Lives of the Microbes" - 2014
- "Mushrooms" - 2011
- "The Triumph of the Fungi: A Rotten History" - 2006
- "Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard: The Mysterious World of Mushrooms, Molds, and Mycologists" - 2004
The Big Muddy Speakers Series in Kansas City
is hosted by these wonderful partners!
- Little Blue River Watershed Coalition
- Friends of Lakeside Nature Center
- Missouri River Relief
- Healthy Rivers Partnership
- Kansas City Digital Video
- Westport Coffeehouse Theater
Thank you to the Mo. Dept. of Conservation for partnering with us on the location for this month's talk.
Thanks to all of our venue hosts for making this possible! Click here for a list of upcoming presentations»
The Big Muddy Speaker Series is also held monthly in Rocheport and St. Charles.
Recordings of Presentations
Kansas City Digital Video has been recording Big Muddy Speaker Series presentations. These are available on their website at this link. Some contain synchronized powerpoint presentations. We will be posting these to the archived presentation pages on bigmuddyspeakers.org. Thanks Micheal Morgan and crew for putting this important archive online!
Upcoming Presentations
Missouri River Relief: 25 Years on the Big Muddy
November 10, 2026Columbia, MO
Join us for a journey through time celebrating 25 years of Missouri River Relief's work on the Big Muddy.
See Event
Plastic Pollution, Gulf Hypoxia, and Water Quality
November 11, 2026St Charles, MO
Jennifer Wendt from MidAmerica Clean Future guides us through understanding regional water quality challenges.
See Event