Interesting. I see attribution only for the last, quoted statement. There was a Lynn Margulis at Amherst, though she was a professor of evolutionary biology and never claimed expertise in structural engineering or material science. Your quote came from the book ‘Lynn Margulis: The Life and Legacy of a Scientific Rebel’ by Dorion Sagan, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012.

At least in the sections I read, she also provided no attribution or basis for her statements. Hard to know what to make of it all…