Discovery Park to welcome environmental scientist Diana Wall for distinguished lecture

Diana Wall

Noted environmental scientist Diana Wall will present “Global Soil Biodiversity: Establishing Common Ground for Sustainability” at 1:30 p.m. ET Monday (April 5).

The lecture is free and available to the public; registration is required to receive WebEx seminar details. Registration is available online. The talk is presented by Discovery Park as part of the Discovery Park Distinguished Lecture Series, along with Purdue’s Center for the Environment, the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources and the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence.

Soil biodiversity, estimated at 25% of all known species on earth, is crucial for life above ground. Soil biodiversity (animals and microbes) performs functions such as nutrient cycling and decomposing waste and provides many benefits, such as disease suppression, pest management and climate regulation. There is growing scientific evidence indicating that soil biodiversity and the ecosystem functions and services they provide can optimize the successful implementation of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs).

In this talk, Wall will discuss the state of knowledge on the emerging field of soil biodiversity science and implications for sustainability under current and future environmental change.

“Dr. Wall’s work has been fundamental in illustrating the critical role that soil biodiversity plays in providing ecosystem functions and services; it also sheds light on the stark reality that our global society, and the ecosystems that support us, are becoming increasingly vulnerable to environmental shocks from climate change and unsustainable land management,” says Tim Filley, director of the Purdue Center for the Environment and professor of earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences and agronomy. “We are honored to welcome Dr. Wall to Purdue to engage on this critical issue that touches on nearly all aspects of environmental sustainability.”

Wall is a world-renowned ecologist and the inaugural director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University. She is an ecologist and environmental scientist internationally recognized for her research documenting and exploring the complexity of biodiversity in soils, the importance of this biodiversity for ecosystem health, and the consequences of human activities on soils globally. Her research in agricultural and less-managed ecosystems has emphasized how life in soil, from microbes to invertebrates, contributes to ecosystem services. Wall’s more than 25 years of research in the Antarctic continues to clarify the critical links between climate change and soil biodiversity.

The Discovery Park Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible by the Lilly Endowment as a mechanism for Purdue University and Discovery Park to bring to campus the latest thinking about science and technology and other broad areas of public interest.

About Discovery Park
Discovery Park is a place where Purdue researchers move beyond traditional boundaries, collaborating across disciplines and with policymakers and business leaders to create solutions for a better world. Grand challenges of global health, global conflict and security, and those that lie at the nexus of sustainable energy, world food supply, water and the environment are the focus of researchers in Discovery Park. The translation of discovery to impact is integrated into the fabric of Discovery Park through entrepreneurship programs and partnerships.