Jennifer E. Smith is an American marine ecologist and coral reef expert who works at the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for oceanography, ocean and Earth science research ...

. Her research investigates how physical and biological processes impact the function of marine communities.

Early life and education

Smith was an undergraduate student at the

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universi ...

, where she majored in zoology. She moved to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for her doctoral research, which investigated algal blooms and the impacts of nutrients and invasive species on community structure supervised by Tropical reefs are increasingly dominated by algal blooms, with different types of algal blooms emerging on different reefs in the Hawaiian Islands. She identified that non-indigenous marine algae require strategic management to avoid dominating over native plants.

Research and career

After her PhD, Smith was appointed a postdoctoral researcher at the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System, formally the University of Hawaiʻi and popularly known as UH, is a public college and university system that confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven com ...

, where she worked on the causes of macroalgal blooms on Maui. Smith joined the

in 2005. She was appointed an assistant professor in 2008 and an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

in 2014. Her research investigates coral reef ecology and how various biological processes impact benthic communities. Specifically, she is interested in diversity within coral reef communities, and how to better understand coral reef restoration. She has visited the same coral reefs every year for over a decade, allowing her to better understand how they change over time. She also identified that adding a small amount of '' Asparagopsis'' to cattle feed can reduce the methane emissions from dairy cows. Smith studied corals in the remote central Pacific and identified that in the absence of human disturbance, coral reefs were relatively resilient to climate-associated impacts.

Selected publications

* ''Global analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of primary producers in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems'' * ''Baselines and degradation of coral reefs in the Northern Line Islands'' * ''High-frequency dynamics of ocean pH: a multi-ecosystem comparison''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jennifer E. Living people California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Scripps Institution of Oceanography faculty 1972 births