Diana Wall

Professor

Biology; School of Global Environmental Sustainability 

Diana Wall works on soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across terrestrial ecosystems focusing on the impact of climate change on soil nematode dynamics, ecosystem function, survival and dispersal mechanisms by air or water. Collaborative research with the MCM LTER occurs in the ice-free Antarctic dry valleys where climate change effects are amplified. There, responses of animal species to warm and wet events included shifts in nematode abundance and distribution and alteration of soil CO2 flux. Comparison of wet (Kansas) and dry (New Mexico and Colorado) USA grasslands where drought was imposed in field experiments showed that in mesic sites, drought decreased predator nematodes and increased plant feeding/ herbivorous nematodes, whereas two drier sites were less impacted.

 
Wall Valley, Antarctica was designated for her contributions. Diana was president, Society of Nematologists and the Ecological Society of America. She received the 2013 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, the Ulysses Medal, University College Dublin, the 2019 President’s Medal of the British Ecological Society and is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. She earned her PhD at the University of Kentucky.