Rodolfo Dirzo is Professor of Biology and Earth Systems Science at Stanford University. Rodolfo's scientific work examines the study of species interactions in tropical ecosystems from California, Latin America, and other tropical areas of the world. Recent research highlights the decline of animal life (“defaunation”), and how this affects ecosystem processes/services (e.g. disease regulation). Rodolfo teaches ecology, natural history, conservation biology, and biocultural diversity at undergraduate and graduate levels at Stanford, and conducts science education programs with underserved children in the Bay Area.

Timestamps _____________________ 0:00 - Teaser 0:49 - Introduction to Rodolfo Dirzo 8:39 - Defaunation & global trends in declining animal populations 15:13 - What is ecology? 18:12 - Risks of declining animal populations 27:49 - The Wolves in Yellowstone - Trophic cascading 34:24 - A slight digression on COVID-19 & animal trafficking 38:42 - What is the sixth extinction & why is it significant? 45:40 - What are the causes of the sixth extinction? 54:25 - Why Biological Loss is just as critical as climate change 1:05:21 - What can we learn from previous mass extinctions 1:08:10 - What can we do to mitigate biodiversity loss