Chris Smith is an associate professor of biology at

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

in Salem, Oregon, United States. In 2013 he received a grant for his work studying the relationship between yucca moths and yucca trees.

Background

In 2013, Smith received a

National Science Foundation CAREER award The National Science Foundation CAREER awards, presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF), are in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through research and education, and the integration of these endeavors i ...

of $850,000 for his work studying the co-evolution of yucca trees and their pollinators, yucca moths. He had the distinction of being the university's first faculty member to receive a CAREER award. With Emily Drew, Smith also teaches the interdisciplinary course "Race, Racism, and Human Genetics", which examines how scientific endeavors had been affected by racial outlooks. The course originated from a discussion Smith and Drew had on the topic in 2012.

Study of yucca and joshua trees

Smith has studied the northward migration of yucca and joshua trees, and the possible hybridization of the Eastern and Western varieties, either of which may be related to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

Challenging views on race

Smith is an advocate for the dismantling of racist pseudoscientific beliefs. On October 8, 2012, he and fellow Willamette associate professor Emily Drew, an anti-racism workshop facilitator, led a discussion on the misrepresentation of race and racial differences, presented at the

Bagdad Theater The Bagdad Theatre is a movie theater in the Hawthorne District of Portland, Oregon, United States. It originally opened in 1927 and was the site of the gala premiere of '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' in 1975, and of ''My Own Private Id ...

and Pub in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

.''Portland Mercury'
''Modern Science and the Legacy of Scientific Racism'' When: Mon., Oct. 8, 7 p.m. 2012
/ref>

References

External links

Publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Chris Living people Willamette University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American biologists