By: Hailey Meyer

David Evans grew up locally in Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington and Oregon. He completed his undergrad and master’s degree in biology at Western Washington University, and also received his Ph.D. in Botany at Washington State University.

Evans is a professor and the Associate Director for undergraduate studies here at WSU. Evans also directs the Stable Isotope Core Laboratory, and has been working at WSU for 16 years now. Before teaching at WSU, Evans was a professor at the University of Arkansas for 9 years.

He knew that he wanted to be a professor while he was completing his Ph.D., “I really enjoyed the research, I had a great professor that really got me into plants,” Evans said.

Evans research is mainly focused on carbon, nitrogen and water dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. He has done an abundance of work as a desert ecologist, with global change at the center of his attention. His two main projects currently concentrate on atmospheric deposition in the environment.

“We’ve done this all across the Western U.S., and right now I have a graduate student working in the North Cascades,” he explained, “and the other student is working in agricultural systems on more efficient use of nitrogen, and we’re doing that locally.”

Evans couldn’t express enough for undergraduate students to reach out to their professors, and graduate students as well.

“There are so many opportunities here to take advantage of, just get involved as much as you can,” Evans said, “I wouldn’t trade my undergrad for anything, half the fun is finding things out.”