Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 20, 2003
Contact: Lily Huddleson
Telephone: 970 491 1984
Fax: 970 491 1965
Email: lily@nrel.colostate.edu

SOIL ECOLOGY SOCIETY HONORS CSU SCIENTIST

FORT COLLINS, CO - Diana H. Wall, Professor and Director of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University, was selected by the Soil Ecology Society as the recipient of the 2003 Professional Achievement Award at their recent biannual meeting in Palm Springs, California. The Soil Ecology Society is an international scientific organization of researchers, students, environmental professionals and others interested in the advancement and promotion of soil biology and ecology. Dr. Wall’s award is the highest honor bestowed by the Society and was presented in recognition of her “outstanding contributions to science and education in soil ecology," particularly for her research in soil nematode ecology, soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Diana’s interest in enhancing research and understanding of nematode ecology began in 1976 when she initiated and chaired an ad hoc Ecology Committee of the Society of Nematology. She fostered collaborative efforts in nematode systematics and ecology by organizing an American Institute of Biological Sciences/Ecological Society of America annual meeting symposium in 1980 on Nematodes in Soil Ecosystems and editing the proceedings volume. During 1983-84, as President of the Society of Nematologists, Diana planned a symposium at the International Congress of Nematology in Guelph to enhance understanding of nematode ecology across soil, freshwater and marine habitats. As Chair of the Nematode Taxonomic Working Group for an All Taxa Biotic Inventory (ATBI) in Costa Rica, Diana gathered international systematists and ecologists, experts on nematode species living in soils, wetlands, aquatic sediments and animals, to explore the procedures, data bases and labor required for an ATBI. Following the Society of Nematology meetings in 1997, Diana was funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to hold a Workshop on Systematics and Inventory of Soil Nematodes that had goals of enhancing molecular research and collaborative efforts on nematode surveys and inventories (report is available at http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/soil/sisn.html).

Her efforts to increase the visibility, research and funding of soil biodiversity are a continuing focus. Three areas are particularly noteworthy:

1) A workshop, jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), organized by Diana and Stephen Blackmore (UK) was held in the Natural History Museum in London in late 1994. Participants were selected to represent terrestrial interests including systematics, ecosystem science and ecology. Priorities for research in soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning were detailed in the resulting report, “Life in the Soil: Soil biodiversity, its importance to ecosystem processes”
(http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/soil/lifeinthesoil.html). The report was used as impetus in the UK to foster significant increases in research funding through a NERC thematic programme, the Soil Biodiversity Programme (1999-2004, http://mwnta.nmw.ac.uk/soilbio/) and a collaborative US- NSF funded grant (http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/soil/us_uk). These programs enhanced development of new methods, research collaborations and publications on soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The resulting advancements in knowledge were the topic of a 2003 British Ecological Society Annual Symposium on Biological Diversity and Function in Soils, which will be published by Blackwell-Science.

2) Diana chairs the Committee on Soil and Sediment Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning of the Scientific Committee on Problems in the Environment (SCOPE) whose international participants have synthesized and identified new research needs on biodiversity linkages below-surface. The project has produced over 45 scientific publications (http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/soil/SCOPE) and will culminate with two volumes in 2004, one based on the findings from the Estes Park workshop and edited by Diana and the other written by Yvonne Baskin, a well-known science writer.

3) Diana also developed the concepts and organized the Global Litter Invertebrate Decomposition Experiment (http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/glide/) as part of the International Biodiversity Observation Year 2000-2002. Analyses of data from 34 global sites are beginning to clarify the identity and role of soil invertebrates involved in an ecosystem process across latitudinal gradients.

Diana’s work integrates knowledge across agricultural and ecological disciplines and across interfaces of soils and sediments. She is a long time member of the American Phytopathological Society, the Soil Science Society of America, and is past president of the Society of Nematologists, the Ecological Society of America and the American Institute of Biological Sciences. She was a founding member of the US National Committee on Soil Science and currently serves as Chair for the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. Throughout her career she has participated in efforts to enhance the diversity of the scientific workforce and to increase the ability of scientists to communicate effectively. She was recently selected as co-Chair of the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program. - ### -

Editors Note: Dr. Diana Wall’s cv is http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/people/cv/cv-WallDiana.pdf. Images are available upon request.

Visit Dr. Wall's lab webpage at http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/soil