Diana Rohlman is an associate professor and senior researcher in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology in the College of Agricultural Sciences, and affiliate faculty in the College of Health. She facilitates community-engaged research with an emphasis on increasing environmental health literacy and often works with K-12 students and Indigenous communities. She also uses “Star Trek” to teach science ethics to university students.
What originally brought you to Oregon State?
I came to OSU in 2007 as a PhD student. I’m from the Seattle area originally but went to a small liberal arts school, Marietta College, in Ohio. There, I was lucky to take two toxicology classes, and those courses caught my interest. In searching for toxicology graduate programs, OSU was one of the few that had a dedicated toxicology department. Once I finished my PhD in 2013, I was offered a post-doctoral fellowship in the College of Health and over time transitioned into a research faculty position.
What makes you passionate about higher education?
When I was young, I asked a lot of questions. According to my parents, too many questions – they invented “question time-out” just to give themselves a break from my barrage of questions. I still love asking questions, and higher education provides a fantastic environment to pursue those questions.
How has your work in communicating environmental science changed as you work more with Indigenous communities?
I’ve always approached science as one way to help unravel mysteries and answer questions. I find science fascinating and love learning new intricacies of the world we live in. I try to bring that to the way I talk about science. I view the work a little differently now – I used to focus on what scientific results might mean to a single person. Now, I try to put the research results into perspective for individuals, their families and their community. Additionally, I was taught within a Western science framework, but there are many scientific frameworks that need to be acknowledged and referenced. In some cases, those frameworks may need to be used rather than the ‘standard’ scientific method. My communication style has become more aware of the intersection of community values and science, and I have increased awareness that community context is essential in shaping how scientific results are applied.
What advice would you give the younger version of yourself who was just starting college?
The first thing that comes to mind is this: You don’t have to plan out every detail of your life. I’ll also share advice that was given to my dad, who passed it on to me: You can learn something from anyone, even if it is learning what not to do. I have learned a lot that way.
What pieces of traditional ecological knowledge have you been able to bring back to your broader environmental health work at Oregon State?
This is an interesting question because it touches on several areas of my work that I am passionate about. Much of my work I cannot talk about; I work under a Data and Material Sharing and Ownership Agreement when working with Indigenous communities. That agreement recognizes that knowledge is wealth, and knowledge may need to be protected. As such, all data, materials and knowledge that I learn, or that are generated through a project, belongs to the Tribe. In general though, I would say that I have stopped thinking about scientific disciplines as unconnected silos. I used to focus just on water quality, and then I’d look at air quality, but they are inherently connected. Contaminants in the air can go into the water, and vice versa. Looking at our world as a series of interconnected systems is challenging but also inspiring.
What was your favorite course in college?
I took an Honors College course at Marietta College that examined the impact of popular media on perceptions of war. I wish I could remember the actual course title. In the course, we watched war films to understand how these films were used as a sort of propaganda to support, or criticize, ongoing wars. For my final project, I looked at the role of women in war films; I drew heavily from my love of the show “M*A*S*H.” It was a fascinating course, and it helped spark the idea I had for my own Honors College course, “Science, Ethics, and Star Trek,” where we use television episodes to understand and apply science ethics.
What does science fiction, and “Star Trek” specifically, mean to you as a scientist and as a citizen of the world?
Science fiction is such a fantastic platform to explore real-world issues. I don’t watch or read a lot of science fiction, but I truly believe everyone should watch “Star Trek.” I think this is true for all science fiction though. Science fiction shows and books are really about exploring humanity and how we might respond to potential future events. In many cases, the “science” is just a prop to engender a complicated scenario that characters need to work through. One of my favorite episodes is a “Voyager” episode called “Nothing Human.” I use it in my class.
Briefly (spoilers!) B’Elanna Torres becomes ensnared with a parasitic alien; unless she and the alien receive medical care, they will both die. The physician on board searches his medical database and finds expertise from another doctor. Using technology, he recreates this doctor as a hologram and over the course of the episode, discovers that the original doctor conducted highly unethical, horrendous “experiments” on another species of alien. The writers of “Star Trek “used fictional technology to literally “bring to life” a current, ongoing controversy in science: should data that was collected unethically, ever be used? I think science fiction poses many of these deeply insightful, yet very nuanced, questions that we should all be engaging with.
How have you been able to use Star Trek to teach broader issues of science, ethics and humanity to your students?
Gene Roddenberry said of the original series: “Television was so tightly censored that science fiction was the only way to escape the taboos in politics, religion or anything else that was controversial.” I thought that television, and “Star Trek” in particular, would be a good forum to discuss scientific ethics. Ethical issues are often considered to be black and white. It’s easy to look back and see the ethical missteps made by researchers, but there isn’t room for discussion about how, or why, these steps were taken. By understanding why science was unethical, or how it become unethical (intentional or not), I think we can become more ethical scientists. I wanted to create an environment where students could explore scientific ethics, but in a place that was divorced from the real world and the preconceived thoughts and perceptions we have. We use the “Star Trek” universe to explore some of these discussions, unencumbered by pre-conceived decisions regarding real-world studies.
Why is it important to teach students to communicate their research rather than just focusing on their time in the lab or the field?
My goal, and the reason I went into science, is to contribute to research that will help people live healthier lives. But if we don’t talk about our research and what it means, then people won’t learn about it. We know from work in the medical field that it takes on average 17 years from the time a drug is discovered in a laboratory, to when it is being prescribed to people. A substantial aspect of my research is conducting exposure studies with people and then giving their information back to them. Our work has shown that people use this information to make changes to improve their health. Healthy people and a healthy environment are the goal of the work we all do. Obviously, we need the research, but we also need to tell people what our research is finding, so they can make decisions for themselves, their families and their community. Research can also influence policy, so communicating to policymakers is another important aspect. Science communication is a skill, and it’s one that I am seeing so many scientists actively pursuing.
What is your favorite non-academic pursuit or passion?
I love to read, and my current passion is researching medieval herbs and cookery. I love learning about herbs and plants that used to be staples of the diet but fell out of favor for one reason or another. I now have some Italian herbs (erba stella, sculpit, mentuccia romano) growing in my garden.
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