[SunkenCiv]

November 8, 2006
Dr. Peter Wagner
Dept. of Geology, The Field Museum
"Relative Abundance Distributions in the Fossil and their Implications for Major Extinction Events"
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/rescol_seminars.htm

(other than that, I found nothing on the site, such as the press release that was used by PhysOrg)

[SunkenCiv]

Earth hit by 'mass extinction'
Australia Sunday Telegraph
Agence France-Presse
November 24, 2006

"We think these are the first analyses of this type at this large scale," said Peter Wagner, associate curator of fossil invertebrates at The Field Museum and lead author of the study, who worked with Matthew Kosnik of James Cook University... The results of the study could provide a warning on how we treat the ecosystem now, the experts said. "Studies by modern marine ecologists suggest that humans are reducing certain marine ecosystems to something reminiscent of 550 million years ago, prior to the explosion of animal diversity," Mr Wagner said. "The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs couldn't manage that."

IOW, he's one of *those*. The human relationship with the Earth is much less than that of a tick to a dog.