Dr. Erica Smithwick

Biography

Erica H. Smithwick is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Geography at Penn State University, where she also serves as the Director of the Earth Environmental Systems Institute and the Associate Director of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment. Smithwick's expertise lies in landscape ecology, ecosystem ecology, and biogeochemistry, with a specific focus on fire ecology. Her research primarily addresses sustainable land management and decision-making processes in the context of climate change, particularly around forest resilience, wildfire management, and natural carbon sequestration strategies, while integrating Indigenous knowledge systems. She has conducted extensive research across the United States, including the Mid-Atlantic and western regions, as well as in Alaska and various countries in Africa, including Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and Zambia. Smithwick has also served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in South Africa. Prior to her position at Penn State, she was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the supervision of Dr. Monica Turner. She holds an M.S. in Resource Conservation Forestry from the University of Montana and a Ph.D. from Oregon State University, and she is actively involved in recruiting graduate students interested in her research topics.

Research Interests

Experience