Retirement Congratulations to Diana Dalbotten!

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April 8, 2026

Long-time EFI member Diana Dalbotten has retired, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Education working groups want to commemorate her impact on EFI through her focus on making STEM and data science education inclusive, particularly for Native American students. Below you can find the perspectives Diana shared with EFI, as well as lessons learned from Diana that were shared by DEI/Education working group participants during a recent working group call.

Diana provided 42 years of service and leadership at the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL), where she was the Associate Director of Diversity and Broader Impacts. In addition to Diana’s contributions to EFI, she has been a co-founder and leader in the following organizations and projects.

Perspectives Diana has brought to the EFI community are:

  • Building cross-institution partnerships among universities, tribal colleges, and agencies.
  • Developing community-based participatory research to integrate Indigenous knowledge into environmental research and policy discussions.
  • Supporting place-based and data-driven teaching methods that use local environmental data to teach Earth science.
  • Encouraging programs focused on recruitment, mentoring, and retention of underrepresented students in science careers.

Diana was recruited into the EFI community in 2018 specifically to support and advise the community on diversity issues. She attended the 2019 in-person EFI conference, where the EFI working groups were initiated, and has been a chair/co-chair for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working group since its inception. Diana pushed the DEI working group to develop a Strategic Plan in 2020, which was evaluated in 2024 to highlight EFI activities aligned with that Strategic Plan and identify additional opportunities for the community.

Diana was instrumental in both the 4-part “Conversations on Diversity and Data” virtual seminar series in 2020 to foster conversations, actions, and to make community connections to promote diversity within ecological forecasting and the “FEWS Seminar Series: Why Summer Research & REUs Really Are For You!” which supported students to share their research and develop their presentation skills as well as provided critical advice for students looking for summer research opportunities. 

Finally, Diana has shared her connections to professors and directors at Salish Kootenai College, a Tribal college, California Polytechnic University, Humboldt (CPH), a Hispanic-Serving and Minority-Serving institution, and the University of New Mexico, Gallup (UNMG), a 2-year community college with high Hispanic and Native American student enrollment, with EFI collaborators. These connections have led to three Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-funded projects that have developed data science and ecological forecasting educational materials, provided mentoring for students, and supported research conducted by underrepresented students. The Sloan funding enabled UNMG and CPH students to present their research from the NEON Forecasting Challenge at the GA meeting in 2025, and supported EFI community members who delivered data science training workshops at the GA 2025 meeting, the EFI 2024 conference, and the upcoming EFI2026 conference, and the AIHEC-Native FEWS 2024 Conference, and at multiple sessions of the SLAWR REU.

EFI leadership has also been impacted by Diana and the Sloan activities, leading both Nievita Bueno Watts (CPH) and Antoinette Abeyta (UNMG) to provide leadership in the Education and DEI working group activities, to serve as voting members on the EFI Steering Committee.

Lessons learned from Diana: 

  • Identify synergies across communities. Diana knows how to use her networks and often supports activities that have buy-in and support across the communities she works with.
  • Maximize funding from multiple sources to support student travel. Diana always looked for ways to use multiple pots of money to support REU and GA travel by leveraging her networks, synergizing activities across grants, and boldly reaching out to collaborators and sponsors to secure additional funding when needed.
  • Invest in students and colleagues long-term. Diana cares about the students and colleagues she works with. For example, Antoinette started as a student in Diana’s REU program, earned her PhD from SAFL, and developed into a collaborator with Diana on multiple grants and activities.
  • Support local talent and meet students where they are at. The SLAWR REU project offers multiple options to meet students’ needs. There are research options for those who want to travel to conduct research away from their home institution, and local research opportunities for individuals who want to conduct research but can’t travel due to family responsibilities.
  • Every student is a learner and a teacher. No matter a student’s age or experience, they have things to teach and should be empowered to do so.
  • Learning should be fun, and all learners are more engaged when they are having fun. And if you are organizing an event, make sure it is fun!
  • Develop a strong core of collaborators. Write grants with people you like.
  • Small, impactful changes are meaningful. They accumulate!
  • See people holistically. Students are not just scientists; they also have other interests. Consider how to incorporate their interests. Find out what students do for fun. Value people for the whole, not just for their research and the contributions they make to your research program.
  • If you are trying to connect with or develop a project with a group that shows little or no interest, keep trying, keep building relationships, and keep showing up. A no from one person does not mean a no for the whole community.

The EFI DEI/Education working group thanks Diana for the lasting impact she has made on the EFI community over the past 7 years. We are looking forward to hearing occasional updates on her recent art projects, the live music she is enjoying, her success betting at the horse track, and the joy her family brings her during her retirement. If you attend a future Geoscience Alliance meeting, we are sure you’ll get to catch up with her as well!