Diana L. Six

Diana L. Six is a forest entomologist and professor at the University of Montana. Her research focuses primarily on bark beetle ecology and forest adaptation to climate change. Six is the recipient of the 2018 Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Award, has presented at TEDx, and has been featured in National Geographic among other nationally recognized media.

Education Six grew up in Upland, California, where she spent her childhood discovering her passion for beetles and fungi through exploring the woods of Southern California. Her current research focuses more on bark beetle ecology and management, how forests are responding and adapting to climate change, and looking at the resiliency of different trees through genetics. Six was also funded by the National Park Service and the Climate Science Center (part of the USGS) to research how the ponderosa and whitepark pine are adapting to climate change.

Awards and recognition In 2018, Six earned the Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Award for her significant and influential contributions to the understanding of bark beetle ecology, biodiversity, and climate change.

Publications Six has authored and collaborated on over 60 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and technical reports that have been published by names such as the Annual Review of Entomology, Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Annual Review of Entomology, and Microbial Ecology. Some of her most notable work are as follows:

The Evolution of Agriculture in Insects, 2005. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Volume 36. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.36.102003.152626 The Role of Phytopathogenicity in Bark Beetle–Fungus Symbioses: A Challenge to the Classic Paradigm, 2011. Annual Review of Entomology, Volume 56. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-120709-144839 Chapter 7: Bark Beetle-Fungus Symbioses, CRC Press, 2003. "Insect symbiosis" edited by Kostas Bourtzis and Thomas A. Miller. Ecological and Evolutionary Determinants of Bark Beetle —Fungus Symbioses, 2012. Insects. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects3010339 Bark Beetle Outbreaks in Western North America: Causes and Consequences, 2009. Bark Beetle Symposium. Temperature Determines Symbiont Abundance in a Multipartite Bark Beetle-fungus Ectosymbiosis, 2007. Microbial Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-006-9178-x Are Survivors Different? Genetic-Based Selection of Trees by Mountain Pine Beetle During a Climate Change-Driven Outbreak in a High-Elevation Pine Forest, 2018. Frontiers in Plant Science.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00993

Public engagement In addition to her research, Six often writes pieces for magazines, blogs, also shares her research via twitter, claiming that communicating research to the public is an important component of science, so that its value is better understood.