She uses low-tech samples to tell a big story about the ground we all walk on.

A peal, which is made with netting, like that from a screen door, and a rubber-cement-like adhesive, can show a very detailed picture. Here, Lori's holding a peal from a large swath of sand that was swept inland during the December 2004 tsunami event in Sumatra, Indonesia that took the lives of more than 200,000.