Home > About > Faculty Profiles > Sigrid Smith, Ph.D.

Sigrid Smith, Ph.D.

Associate Professor / Biostatistician, Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources

Campus Address: 34 Baker Building
Phone: 302.857.6458
Email: ssmith [at] desu.edu

Websites:

DSU GIS Discussion Group

ANNOUNCEMENTS

We welcome undergraduates to participate in research experiences in environmental science with computer-based, lab, and/or field approaches. Feel free to contact me by email to introduce yourself if you’d like to learn more!

Education

  • Ph.D., Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010
  • B.S., Biology, Environmental Studies, Tufts University, 2003
  • Postdoctoral Training: Applied Ecology and Spatial Analysis, University of Michigan, 2015

Research Interests

I study natural ecosystems and the interactions between nature and people within them. More formally, my research interests include the structure, function, and stability of both ecological communities and integrated socio-environmental systems. Projects have included synthesizing the combined effects of different kinds of human pressures on ecosystems, analyzing long-term data on the natural variability in ecosystems and their response to climate change, and mapping the cumulative benefits that healthy ecosystems provide to society. I pursue these interests in aquatic ecosystems by blending traditional community ecology approaches (such as long-term observations and mesocosm experiments) with data synthesis and geospatial modeling.

Current Research

Response of wetland plant communities to human impacts:
The composition of wetlands can change a lot from place to place and over time, especially in small wetlands and ponds that dry during part of the year.  However, natural long-term changes in plants and their responses to new stresses such as climate change are not well documented.  In wetlands in southwest Michigan and in coastal plain ponds and sinkhole ponds in the mid-Atlantic region, we are studying the influences of water level changes and agriculture on plant communities.

Feedbacks between ecosystems and human communities:
Healthy wetlands and coastal ecosystems benefit humans by providing recreational opportunities, flood mitigation, and many other ecosystem services.  With detailed spatial data, we can begin to link where human activities occur, how they affect the biological communities in those places, and how those impacts affect the benefits that humans enjoy from ecosystems.  We are exploring this interplay between nature and people in the Laurentian Great Lakes and in mid-Atlantic wetlands and coastal waters.

Areas of expertise

  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  • Imagery Analysis
  • Field Sampling
  • Data Analytics
  • Statistics
  • Machine Learning

Selected Publications

(See a more complete list in Google Scholar.)

  • Kim, J.S., S.P. Syswerda, and S.D.P. Smith. In review. Cover crop detection using object-based classification with open-source remote sensing and geospatial technologies. Target: Journal of Applied Remote Sensing.

  • Smith, S.D.P. 2022. The influence of light and nutrient availability on floating plant dominance in forested temporary and semipermanent wetlands. Hydrobiologia 849: 2595-2608.

  • Smith, S.D.P., D.B. Bunnell, G.A. Burton Jr., J.J.H. Ciborowski, A.D. Davidson, C.E. Dickinson, L.A. Eaton, P.C. Esselman, M.A. Evans, D.R. Kashian, N.F. Manning, P.B. McIntyre, T.F. Nalepa, A. Pérez-Fuentetaja, A.D. Steinman, D.G. Uzarski, and J.D. Allan. 2019. Evidence for interactions among environmental stressors in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Ecological Indicators 101: 203-211.

  • Allan, J.D., N.F. Manning, S.D.P. Smith, C.E. Dickinson, C.A. Joseph, and D.R. Pearsall. 2017. Ecosystem services of Lake Erie: spatial distribution and concordance of multiple services. Journal of Great Lakes Research 43: 678-688.

  • Kovalenko, K.E., E.D. Reavie, J.D. Allan, M. Cai, S.D.P. Smith, and L.B. Johnson. 2017. Pelagic phytoplankton community change-points across nutrient gradients and in response to invasive mussels. Freshwater Biology 62: 366-381.

  • Mason, L.A., C.M. Riseng, A.D. Gronewold, E.S. Rutherford, J. Wang, A. Clites, S.D.P. Smith, and P.B. McIntyre. 2016. Fine-scale spatial variation in ice cover and surface temperature trends across the surface of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Climatic Change 138: 71-83.

  • Neeson, T.M., S.D.P. Smith, J.D. Allan, and P.B. McIntyre. 2016. Prioritizing ecological restoration among sites in multi-stressor landscapes. Ecological Applications 26: 1785-1796.

  • Smith, S.D.P., D.B. Bunnell, G.A. Burton Jr., J.J.H. Ciborowski, A.D. Davidson, C.E. Dickinson, L.A. Eaton, P.C. Esselman, M.A. Evans, D.R. Kashian, N.F. Manning, P.B. McIntyre, T.F. Nalepa, A. Pérez-Fuentetaja, A.D. Steinman, D.G. Uzarski, and J.D. Allan.  2019.  Evidence for interactions among environmental stressors in the Laurentian Great Lakes.  Ecological Indicators 101:  203-211.
  • Allan, J.D.*, S.D.P. Smith*, P.B. McIntyre, C.A. Joseph, C.E. Dickinson, A.L. Marino, R.G. Biel, J.C. Olson, P.J. Doran, E.S. Rutherford, J.E. Adkins, and A.O. Adeyemo.  2015. Using cultural ecosystem services to inform restoration priorities in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 13:  418-424.  (* = equal contributors)
  • Smith, S.D.P.  2014.  The roles of nitrogen and phosphorus in regulating the dominance of floating and submerged aquatic plants in a field mesocosm experiment.  Aquatic Botany 112:  1-9.
  • Allan, J.D.*, P.B. McIntyre*, S.D.P. Smith*, B.S. Halpern, G.L. Boyer, A. Buchsbaum, G.A. Burton Jr., L.M. Campbell, W.L. Chadderton, J.J.H. Ciborowski, P.J. Doran, T. Eder, D.M. Infante, L.B. Johnson, C.A. Joseph, A.L. Marino, A. Prusevich, J.G. Read, J.B. Rose, E.S. Rutherford, S.P. Sowa, and A.D. Steinman.  2013.  Joint analysis of stressors and ecosystem services to enhance restoration effectiveness.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110:  372-377.  (* = equal contributors)
  • Smith, S.D.P.  2012. Identifying and evaluating causes of alternative community states in wetland plant communities.  Oikos 121:  675-686.

Grants

  • NSF, “Diversity of ecosystem services provisioning in coastal socio-ecological systems” (role: PI)
  • USDA, “Assessing the impacts of sea level rise on agriculture and wetland ecosystem services provisioning in Delaware” (role: PI)
  • Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, “Effects of water level regime on plant communities in temporary and semipermanent wetlands” (role: PI; covered housing, food, and research use fees)

Courses Taught

  • NTRS 321 Biometrics (Introductory Biostatistics)
  • NTRS 456/644 Wetlands Biology
  • AGRI 501 Advanced Statistical Techniques for Data Analysis
  • NTRS 551 Experimental Design