Diana retired in the fall of 2006 after 25 years working for the State of California in natural resources management and environmental protection. She was Deputy Director-Science Advisor with Department of Fish and Game 1999-2006. From 1984 to 1999, she worked as an ecologist at the California State Lands Commission and prior to that spent three years as a plant ecologist at the Department of Water Resources.

She has had a fascination with nature since a young age and went on to earn a B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, and M.S and Ph.D. degrees in Wildland Resource Science from the University of California, Berkeley. In retirement, Diana has served on a number of non-profit Boards focused on river and stream conservation. She and her husband Rick Elefant enjoy the outdoors, especially birding, steelhead fishing, and traveling in pursuit of large salmonids.