From passion to inspiration, Diana Wheat is living her dream at LBCC

After teaching in Colorado for seven years, a family decision was made to move to Oregon. Diana Wheat has been teaching biology at LBCC for 10 years.

Wheat grew up in a rural area in Kansas. Her family was affected during the farming crisis three decades ago. Some of her teachers were not comfortable enough to teach evolution, and going to college wasn't required to develop a career.

Living in a community stifled by scientific opportunities, nothing in her past pointed towards a career as a biologist, but one class and a brief discussion of a female scientist was enough to enlighten her. Today, Wheat still reveres Rachel Carson.

“I won’t say that I was following her footsteps, but I was very influenced by her writings,” said Wheat.

Wheat is the department chair and a biology faculty member at Linn-Benton Community College.

“I loved the land, but it’s nothing like the Northwest. This is such a diverse area compared to where I lived,” Wheat joked.

Wheat enjoys spending time outside every day and being surrounded by nature. This helped her to build the connection with the natural world.

Where she grew up, people didn't generally accept theories such as evolution and natural selection. Not many teachers talked about them at school during her growing up years because a few people got into trouble for teaching evolution.

However, teachers' reluctance and avoiding the subject made Wheat more curious. “I wanted to know what’s the controversy about. I wanted to understand more about the different perspectives.”

The more questions she asked, the more she realized the disconnection between people around her and nature. Studying about change became fascinating to Wheat. This initiation led her interests to issue-based biology studies.

Wheat could not help but dig deeper to see the science behind the scenes. She still believes it’s important to understand what’s really happening under the surface.

As a teacher, Wheat taught classes that were issue-based, and students loved learning that way.

“Because it’s almost like philosophy and ethical influence rather than just hard science,” she said.

Not every class affords opportunities for Wheat to teach that way.When she can, she engages students with issues along with scientific facts.

"I thought her class was difficult but I know she designed it to prepare me better for the future," said student Daniel Elliott.

She tries in her teaching approach to gather students’ attention with a phenomenon and let students ask for more.

“It’s not always important to tell people what to think, rather, it’s to give them a question so they learn how to think. That’s my mission of being a teacher,” said Wheat.

Wheat earned her bachelor’s degree in biology. The curriculum emphasized systematic and ecology. She worked for a museum but soon she realized the museum work was too quiet and not enough excitement for a young biologist. The insufficient funding was also part of the reason why she couldn't continue the job.

Wheat went back to school and earned her master’s degree in environmental science and specifically in eco-toxicology, the study of how toxins and poisons affect the environment. 

“It was part of a brand new master's degree program at the University of Kansas. I was one of the five people who applied for the program that year,” said Wheat. her interest included eco-toxicology or 

She was not afraid to step into the new genre.

Reflecting back to the age of 13, Wheat learned about Rachel Carson, who wrote the book “Silent Spring” and warned the world that the way humans poison the environment will result a future with no birds but a silent spring.

Following a similar path, Wheat wanted to be like Carson, a female scientist that can make a difference with what she believes.

Wheat was proud to receive her first job offer within the first year after graduation. She started working at a water quality laboratory as a microbiologist.

“It was not a glamorous job,” Wheat laughed, “It was a job to have a salary.”

The company was not happy about a research result she obtained about zebra mussels. They are now known as an invasive species from the Black Sea. Wheat warned the company that not a single chemical they were making could kill the zebra mussels, but the company thought she was wrong.

In the early '90s, it spread out in the country, and upset many ecosystems. Zebra mussels were then proved to be an invasive species that had high resistance.

After working in the company for one and half years, the company cut the lab and reduced Wheat's job. 

“Eventually, fate held my hands because it was a good beginning for my next journey,” Wheat said. 

With the money she saved, she decided to make the most out of the worst.

She went to Africa and explored like a real scientist.

It was not easy to travel in a place like Africa at the time, especially as a single woman. Wheat chose to go to Kenya because it was one of the safer countries. However, when she thought she could do something bigger on that continent, KWS (Kenyans Wildlife Services) stopped hiring. The director of KWS was Richard Leakey, the son of the famous scientist Louis Leakey. Because of a plane accident, Richard Leakey was sent back to a U.K. hospital. Wheat already had two interviews for the program, but no decisions could be made without the director.

Life didn't close all the doors. When the program manager noticed Wheat had museum work background, he suggested Wheat an opportunity to work at the NMK (National Museum of Kenya).

“Because of working for the NMK, I was put on to work on a project about biodiversity. It was a perfect project,” said Wheat.

The project was sponsored by the United Nations. So Wheat became a paid intern for $40 per month,
Roughly the same amount paid to Kenyan scientists at the time.

She wasn't a rich scientist, but the money was enough for her to safari to other areas in Africa.

The year in Africa taught Wheat not only biodiversity, but also valuable life lessons. Wheat decided to be a teacher to share her knowledge and experiences. She spent two years to complete her teaching certificate, and found her first teaching job at Littleton High School followed by the University of Colorado in Denver. 

“There were hardships and disappointments, but I kept going forward and never turned my back to biology. I hope through education, I can be a source of inspiration.”

Additional Info:

Instructor website: http://cf.linnbenton.edu/mathsci/bio/wheatd/web.cfm?pgID=2118
Office: WOH 207
Phone: 541-917-4772