Introducing the 2017 keynote speaker, Diana Wall!!

Dr. Diana Wall is a soil ecologist who studies the hidden wonders of dirt. Her research focuses on how soil biodiversity can help soil remain resilient to environmental change while maintaining important functions like decomposition and being fertile for food production. This winter, Dr. Wall will return to Antarctica to conduct research for the 27th time. The US Geological Survey has even named one of the places where Dr. Wall’s studies take place the “Wall Valley” to recognize her contributions to the field of soil ecology and Antarctic science. Dr. Wall grew up in Lexington, Kentucky where she received her Ph.D. in Plant Pathology. She has been at Colorado State University since 1993, and is currently a Professor in the Department of Biology and is the founding director of the School of Global and Environmental Sustainability (SoGES). She has received numerous awards and honors over her long and illustrious career. She has been awarded a President’s Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, has been inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, and had a newly discovered species of mite named after her (Unduloribates dianae). She is overjoyed to be this year’s speaker, and to get to meet the future scientists in attendance.