Professor Diane Carlson grew up on the glaciated Precambrian shield of northern Wisconsin and received an A.A. degree at Nicolet College in Rhinelander and her B.S. in geology at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire. She continued her studies at the University of Minnesota-Duluth where she studied the structural complexities of high-grade metamorphic rocks along the margin of the Idaho batholith for her master's thesis. The lure of the West and an opportunity to work the U.S. Geological Survey to map the Colville batholith in northeastern Washington, led her to Washington State University for her PhD. Dr. Carlson accepted a position at California State University, Sacramento after her PhD and teaches physical geology, structural geology, environmental and applied geology, and field geology. Prefessor Carlson is a recent recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award for the CSUS School of Arts and Sciences. She is actively engaged in researching the structural and tectonic evolution of part of the Foothill Fault System in the northern Sierra Nevada of California.