Jennifer Smith

Email: js485@cornell.edu
Phone: 279-0215
Office: RR B55
Advisor: Todd Walter
Degree Program: MS
Year: Spring 2006

I graduated with a BS from the University of Idaho in 2004 in Biological Systems Engineering, with an emphasis in Environmental Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. I came to Cornell University as a summer undergraduate research fellow, through the National Science Foundation in 2003. I really enjoyed being a part of the soil and water lab, and came back here for graduate work.

What I like to do most is travel. I have always enjoyed being exposed to new environments and cultures. While not traveling, I like outdoor (hiking, trail running, skiing, canoeing, snow shoeing, swimming), nightlife (concerts) and city-life (museums, galleries) activities. I also do art, knit and love to cook.

Current Projects

My Master's thesis is working on characterizing a new type of tracer - biodegradable microspheres encased with a DNA barcode. These DNA barcodes can either have different fluorescent taggers attached to them, where different ratios of taggers will produce a different signal, or the DNA itself could be used as the identifier. I am specifically working on comparing their movement to other tracers (chloride, fluorescent latex microspheres, and bacteria [E. coli]) on the pore and column scales.