University of Kentucky

Interview with Dr. Diana Wall, University Distinguished Professor and Professor of Biology at Colorado State University. The interview begins with Wall reflecting on her childhood in Kentucky, the importance of the Girl Scouts in her life, and her early appreciation for the outdoors. She discusses her undergraduate studies in biology and botany at the University of Kentucky and her decision to stay there to pursue a doctorate degree. Wall describes her research on microscopic animals living in soils as well as her thesis on nematodes. She then discusses her postdoctoral position at University of California, Riverside and her field work in Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico. Wall explains the factors that influenced her to begin her work in Antarctica and talks about the shift from individual work to a more collaborative research environment. The interview concludes with Wall’s reflections on international collaborations, the Antarctic Treaty, and climate change.

Undergraduate at University of Pittsburgh, B.A., 1916; instructorship in physics at University of Kentucky; teaching mathematics at Mercer University, Georgia; graduate thesis at University of Chicago with Dempster. Discouraging experiences with American Physical Society (APS), beginning 1916; invited to 1929 Des Moines meeting by Paul Klopsteg to discuss role of teachers in APS; invited to head group; Glen Warner, Klopsteg, States and S. L. Redman meeting in Chicago, 1930; preparation for and confrontation at Cleveland meeting of APS. Homer L. Dodge and Harold W. Webb; formation of American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), Floyd Richtmyer and Karl Compton; beginning of joint meetings between APS and AAPT (1933). AAPT became founding member of AIP. The AAPT journal; development of bylaws and policies of AAPT; election of Frederic Palmer as president, 1933; David L. Webster's presidency. Effect of AAPT on teaching profession. The Orsted medal; the Taylor Memorial Fund.