Roy Plotnick Visiting Professor, Department of Geology & Geophysics, Yale University "The Fossil Record of the Sixth Extinction"
Comparing the magnitude of the current biodiversity crisis with those in the fossil record is difficult without an understanding of differential preservation. The integration of data from paleontological databases with information on IUCN status, ecology, and life history characteristics of contemporary mammals, suggests that only a small and biased fraction of threatened species have a fossil record. The record of ancient extinctions may be similarly biased, with many species having originated and gone extinct without leaving a tangible record.
Roy E. Plotnick is a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interests are wide-ranging and eclectic, including arthropod paleontology, functional morphology, fossil preservation, trace fossils, landscape ecology and statistical methods. Specific research projects include spatial statistics for data-model comparisons in geology; experimental approaches to the biomechanics of extinct organisms; fractal and multifractal models of the fossil record; computer models of trace fossils; the geologic history of caves and their organisms; the nature of common taxa in the fossil record; and the fossil record of the “Sixth Extinction.” He is also involved in projects designed to promote new approaches to science education at the K-12 and college levels. He is a Fellow of the Paleontological Society and the Geological Society of America.
12 - 1 pm
ESC 110 21 Sachem Street Light lunch will be served
