The Sixth Extinction by Dr. Eric Anderson

Emeritus Professor Eric Anderson presented “The Sixth Extinction – A Crisis in the Loss of Earth’s Biological Diversity,” at the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society’s program on Wednesday, May 17th at 7:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Center, 1519 Water Street in Stevens Point.

Life has existed on the planet Earth for the last 3.5 billion years. Fossil records indicate there have been five significant and dramatic periods of species loss during that time. Currently, the Earth is entering a sixth period of dramatic species loss potentially as devastating as any of the previous ones. But unlike any of those losses that were associated with cataclysmic events such as like asteroid impacts, large scale volcanism, or radical changes in the climate - this one is due to one biological entity. Humans.
Dr. Anderson will discuss what we are losing, why we are losing it, and if there is enough time and enough human resolve to avert the sixth extinction crisis.

Dr. Anderson, an Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Ecology, recently retired after 30 years of university teaching and research. He received his undergraduate degree in wildlife at Michigan State University in Lansing and his master’s degree and PhD in wildlife biology at Colorado State University.

Although teaching continues to be his passion, he has researched a number of species particularly hard hit by the 6th extinction crisis. His work has focused primarily on carnivores, including bobcats, cougars, wolves, and black-footed ferrets, but he has also worked with small mammals, songbirds, turtles, and flying squirrels. He has authored numerous scientific journal articles on North American carnivores, as well as authoring several book chapters on carnivores and wildlife habitat selection.