Missoula, Montana — Kallie Moore, who has worked at the University of Montana for nearly 20 years, is hosting a new PBS series focused on life before dinosaurs.

Moore works as collections manager at the UM Paleontology Center. She is now one of the hosts of “Eons: Life and Death on Pangea,” which premieres July 29 on PBS.

The series follows ancient life from the end of the Carboniferous Period and spends much of its runtime in the Permian Period, nearly 300 million years ago. It then turns to the mass extinction that led into the Triassic Period.

“We decided to go with the Permian; it’s a very cool story. You have a supercontinent, you got weird critters and you also have the biggest mass extinction of all time. So, I think that really interested the team,” said Moore.

The new show continues the PBS web series “Eons,” which Moore has hosted since its 2017 debut. She explained that the longer format gives viewers more time to learn about creatures that lived hundreds of millions of years ago.

She pointed to one animal that once made up three-quarters of populations in some places.

“This little critter called Lystrosaurus. And it actually shows up in the Permian Period and survives the mass extinction event,” said Moore.

Moore also worked on scripts and fact-checking in addition to hosting. She said the process was rewarding and hopes viewers connect with the subject.

“I hope that they increase people’s curiosity about the ancient past,” said Moore.

The series premieres July 29 on PBS and will be available to stream online as well.