Diana Harrison Wall is the Founding Director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, a Distinguished

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

Professor, and Senior Research Scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado S ...

. She is an

environmental scientist Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geogra ...

and a soil ecologist and her research has focussed on the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and othe ...

McMurdo Dry Valleys The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely snow-free valleys in Antarctica, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby ...

. Wall investigates ecosystem processes,

soil biodiversity Soil biodiversity refers to the relationship of soil to biodiversity and to aspects of the soil that can be managed in relative to biodiversity. Soil biodiversity relates to some catchment management considerations. Biodiversity According to the ...

and

ecosystem service Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. ...

s and she is interested in how these are impacted by global change. The

Wall Valley Wall Valley () is an upland valley next east of Priscu Valley in Olympus Range; Minotaur Pass is at the head between Apollo Peak and Mount Electra. The valley opens north to McKelvey Valley. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACA ...

was named after her in recognition of her research in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Wall is a globally recognised leader and speaker on life in Antarctica and climate change.

Early life and education

Wall was born in North Carolina where she attended high school. After graduating high school she moved to Lexington, Kentucky for undergraduate college. Her interest in

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant- parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a bro ...

s began during her undergraduate degree when she worked on nematode parasites in horses and birds. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

. She also completed her PhD on plant pathology from the University of Kentucky in 1971.

Career and impact

Wall began work as a postdoctoral researcher at University of California-Riverside in 1972 where she began researching the function and biological diversity of soil ecosystems. In 1976 she began work in the Department of Nematology as an Assistant Research

Nematologist Nematology is the scientific discipline concerned with the study of nematodes, or roundworms. Although nematological investigation dates back to the days of Aristotle or even earlier, nematology as an independent discipline has its recognizabl ...

. She continued to work at UC-Riverside for a further seventeen years before becoming a Professor in the Department of Nematology. Throughout this period, she was the Associate Director of the Drylands Research Institute for two years the Associate Program Director of the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

in Washington, DC for one year. Wall began working at Colorado State University in 1993. At this time she became a Professor in the Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship (until 2006), the Associate Dean for Research in the Natural Resources College (until-2000) and the Director of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (until 2005). Wall became a Professor in the Department of Biology at CSU in 2006 and was key in establishing the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at CSU in 2008. Wall began working in Antarctica's Dry Valleys in 1989. Since then she has conducted long-term soil ecology research in this region. Her work has changed our understanding of soil ecology in the Antarctic by drawing links between soil process and diversity to environmental conditions above the ground. Wall has described invertebrate soil communities in the Dry Valleys of

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. I ...

and hers were among the first models of habitat suitability for specific invertebrate species in the Dry Valleys. Wall has held the position of President of the

American Institute of Biological Sciences The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is a nonprofit scientific charity. The organization’s mission is to promote the use of science to inform decision-making and advance biology for the benefit of science and society. Overvie ...

, the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

, the Association of Ecosystem Research Centers and the Society of Nematologists. Wall was also the Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents in 2003. Wall was elected a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

Awards and honors

Wall has received the 2012 Mines Medal from the

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (South Dakota Mines, SD Mines, or SDSM&T) is a public university in Rapid City, South Dakota. It is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and was founded in 1885. South Dakota Mines offers ...

, the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research President's Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research, and the Soil Ecology Society Professional Achievement Award. She was named a Fellow of the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program in 1999 and she was selected as the 2012 Tansley Lecturer of the

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

. Wall won the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2013 and was inducted into the

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2020, 170 women have been inducted. History There was a short-lived recogniti ...

in 2014 and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014. Wall was awarded the

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

's highest honour, the Ulysses Medal, in 2015. Wall Valley was named in recognition of Wall for her extensive research on

soil biology Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a ...

in the

of Antarctica, including spending 13 field seasons there at the time of the naming .

Other activities

Wall chaired the DIVERSITAS-International Biodiversity Observation (2001-2002) and also the Global Litter Invertebrate Decomposition Experiment. In addition Wall also co-chaired the Millennium Development Goals Committee of the

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is a major assessment of the human impact on the environment, called for by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2000, launched in 2001 and published in 2005 with more than $14 million of g ...

. Wall co-chaired AAAS Panel on What we know about Climate Change Initiative (2013-2014). Wall is a member of one of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) working groups. She is a member of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

International Hydrological Program US National Committee. Wall has been a Board Member of the Island Press and the

World Resources Institute The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research non-profit organization established in 1982 with funding from the MacArthur Foundation under the leadership of James Gustave Speth. WRI's activities are focused on seven areas: food, for ...

References

External links

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Biography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Diana Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of Kentucky alumni Colorado State University faculty 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists Kentucky women biologists Kentucky women in education American women biologists Fellows of the Ecological Society of America American women academics