Colleen Smith is a forester and soil scientist who uses spectroscopy and spectral analysis to estimate soil properties. She works across several different projects in the soil carbon lab group, including work examining the use of a handheld infrared spectrophotometer as well other methods of low-cost high-throughput spectroscopy.
Smith earned her B.S. in forestry with an emphasis in soil science and a minor in geospatial analysis from Humboldt State University. She has participated in both the Basic Environmental Soil Science Training program at North Carolina State University and the Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology.
Understanding soil characteristics is vital to assessing the health of an ecosystem, and Smith is passionate about making soil science inclusive and accessible to the public.
She enjoys plant identification and foraging, hiking, and crafting in her free time.
