Lesley Smith

Lesley Smith has a Ph.D. in Marine Environmental and Estuarine Sciences from the University of Maryland. She came to CU in 1989 as a research scientist, and her research focused on biogeochemical cycles of large wetlands ecosystems such as the Amazon, Orinoco and MacKenzie Rivers. She is now an Outreach Scientist, and her projects involve training scientists - both at the graduate and professional levels - to work with science teachers in the classroom in an inquiry-based manner. She's also helped develope watershed-related science curriculum, is a co-PI on the ReSciPE project and is a co-PI on a $2.8M grant from NSF to place Teaching Fellows in BVSD science classrooms. Lesley is Chair of the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography's Education and Human Resources Committee. Lesley loves working in the field and is always happy to expose people, both young and old, to the fun and wonder of aquatic ecosystems.

In 2005 Lesley was elected to the Boulder Valley School District's Board of Education and is currently vice-president.