Smits is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S Air Force Reserves and also holds an affiliate faculty appointment at Colorado State University in the Department of Systems Engineering. Her significant achievements are in the areas of environmental and water resources engineering research and education. Her research has focused on multiphase flow and transport through porous media and exchange processes between the land and the atmosphere.
This work has contributed to improving our understanding of how underground pipeline leaks are detected and safely mitigated, and how we parameterize energy fluxes in models of the environment. Smits has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and conducted over $22 million in externally funded research since 2010.
She has contributed to the civil and environmental workforce by mentoring 37 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers since 2012, with over 50% of her research group being women. She has also sponsored over 30 high school and undergraduate student apprenticeships where students work on experimentation and data analysis with her research team.
Smits earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1999, a Master of Science in civil engineering from the University of Teas at Austin in 2000, and a doctorate in environmental science and engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 2010.
