Aramee Diethelm, Ph.D

My path into ecology began with habitat restoration. For nearly a decade, I worked in restaurants while volunteering on restoration projects, including planting trees at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Washington. I later trained as an Urban Watershed Mentor through the West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. As I moved from participating in restoration projects to planning and leading them, I became increasingly interested in the ecological processes underlying the decisions we were making in the field. That curiosity led me to pursue a degree in biology at Portland State University, where I began conducting independent research on plant–insect interactions.

My research focuses on how environmental variation shapes plant traits and interactions among plants, insects, and their natural enemies. Looking ahead, I am interested in combining experimental and field approaches to understand when individual responses to environmental variation contribute to broader ecological patterns in natural populations. These questions are fundamental to ecology, but they are also relevant to understanding how insects respond to environmental change and why some populations persist while others decline.

I have mentored undergraduate and postbaccalaureate researchers, including students completing honors theses and independent research projects. At UC Davis, I designed and taught Introduction to Ecology as Instructor of Record, and at the University of Nevada, Reno, I coordinated the Biology Help Center, organizing a team of tutors to support students across biology courses. My own experience entering science through a nontraditional path informs how I teach and mentor. I want students to participate actively, develop confidence in their own reasoning, and recognize their ability to ask and investigate scientific questions.

Outside of academia, I have engaged with public audiences through natural history museum outreach, community science programs, and public presentations about ecology and conservation.. I have also participated in conservation education with incarcerated crews cultivating milkweed through the Sagebrush in Prisons Project. Scientific illustration is another way I engage with natural history and communicate biology to broader audiences.

​

​