Jennifer R. Smith
Washington University
Campus Box 1169
1 Brookings Dr
Saint Louis MO 63130-4899
Research Interests
Quaternary Geology, Geoarchaeology, and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
I’m interested in understanding the interaction between humans and their environment as recorded in the archaeological record. This involves examining both how natural climatic and environmental changes affected the resources available to people through time, and also how changes in population and technology have affected the amount and nature of human impact on the natural environment.
Most of my work uses tools from sedimentology, geomorphology and geochemistry to reconstruct the landscapes and environments occupied by prehistoric people.
Read more about Prof. Smith in the Washington University Record.
Publications
Hritz, C., Pournelle, J., Smith, J. R., Albadran, B., Issa, B., and A. Al-Handal. Mid-Holocene dates for organic-rich sediment, palustrine shell, and charcoal from southern Iraq. Radiocarbon (in press).
Smith J. R. Spatial and temporal variation in the nature of Pleistocene pluvial phase environments across North Africa, in: Modern Human Origins: A North African Perspective, Eds. J.J. Hublin and S. McPherron, Springer Verlag (in press).
Smith J. R. Climate crises in the deeper past: Pleistocene climate change and human occupation of eastern North Africa In Climate Crises in Human History. Eds. Claudio Vita-Finzi and Robert Giegengack. American Philosophical Society.pp.125-138 (2010).
Adelsberger, K.A. and Smith, J.R. Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and paleoenvironmental interpretation of spring-deposited ironstones and associated sediments, Dakhleh Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt, Catena 83, 7-22 (2010).
Smith J. R. Palaeoenvironments of Eastern North Africa and the Levant in the Late Pleistocene. In South-Eastern Mediterranean Peoples Between 130,000 and 10,000 Years Ago. Ed. E. A. A. Garcea. Oxford, Oxbow Books, pp. 6-17 (2010).
Olszewski, D. I., H. L. Dibble, S. P. McPherron, U. A. Schurmans, L. Chiotti, and J. R. Smith. Nubian Complex strategies in the Egyptian high desert. Journal of Human Evolution, doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.06.001 (2010).
Kieniewicz, J. M. and Smith, J. R. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction and water balance of a Mid-Pleistocene pluvial lake, GSA Bulletin, doi: 10.1130/B26301.1 (2009).
Fadem C. , J. R. Smith, A. Moore, and M. Menđušić. Pedologic analysis of the Danilo Bitinj site, Central Dalmatia, Croatia. Catena, doi:10.1016/j.catena.2009.02.012 (2009).
Adelsberger, K. A. and Smith, J.R. Formation and development of desert pavement surfaces of the Eastern Libyan Plateau, Egypt, Geomorphology, 107, 178-194 (2009).
Courses
Earth and the Environment; Surface Processes; Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
