Education

• 2000 - PhD, Marine Science, University of Maryland, College Park
  
• 1994 - MS, Marine Science, University of Maryland, College Park
  
• 1987 - BA, Biology, New York University

Research Interests

Estuarine ecology, carbon and nutrient biogeochemistry, terrestrial-aquatic coupling in
the coastal zone, water quality, environmental monitoring and assessment of coastal
ecosystems

Select Recent Publications

O’Halloran TL, Furbeck ME, Smith EM, Mozder TJ, Barrett (2026) Rain alters Spartina alterniflora light-use efficiency through leaf rinsing, diffuse light, and salinity at North Inlet, South Carolia. Estuaries and Coasts. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-026-01804-4

Dix N, Nicklay H, Cianci-Gaskill J, Dunnigan S, Tanner S, Cressman K, McMurray S, Rii Y, Jeppesen R, Guy R, Smith EM (2026) Refining techniques for high frequency monitoring of chlorophyll a fluorescence in estuarine systems. Limnology and
Oceanography: Methods. https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.70065

Perin D, Bourbonnais A, Smith EM (2026) Vegetation enhances nitrogen removal in stormwater control measures in coastal South Carolina. Water Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2026.125474

Fatunmbi, MM, Sahoo D, Scaroni AE, Sawyer CB, Smith EM, White SA (2025) Coastal stormwater pond age and phosphorus cycling within water and sediment. Journal of Ecological Engineering Design. https://doi.org/10.70793/jeed.26

Ureta JU, Motallebi M, Vassalos M, Smith EM (2025) Timing of stormwater pond construction and its impact on property values: A hedonic analysis in South Carolina. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.70046

Thompson M, Smith EM, Pinckney JL (2025) Calibration of the transparency tube for estimating turbidity in estuarine systems. Limnology and Oceanography Methods, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rxwdbrvn9 

Black JT, Whitmire SL, Smith EM, Scaroni A, Van Bloem SJ (2025) Sargassum brown tide impacts nearshore water quality and seagrasses in Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico. Biogeochemistry 168, 36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-024-01194-4

Hopper GM, Smith EM, Dormoy-Boulanger J, Benitez-Nelson CR (2025) Urbanization impacts dissolved organic matter concentrations and quality in a Southeastern United States Watershed. Environmental Science and Technology / Water, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.4c01054

Morgan CR, Ellis JT, Smith EM (2025) Comparison of shoreline change from high resolution aerial and satellite imagery: A South Carolina case study. Papers in Applied Geography, https://doi.org/10.1080/23754931.2024.2414463

Szewczyk CJ, Smith EM, Benitez-Nelson CR (2023) Temperature sensitivity of oxygen demand varies as a function of organic matter source. Frontiers in Marine Science 10:1133336 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1133336

Dunn RP, Krask JL, Pinckney JL, Smith EM (2023) Contrasting trends in water quality between adjacent ocean- and river-dominated estuaries: evidence for marsh porewaters as a source of nutrient enrichment? Limnology and Oceanography https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12405

Dunn RP, Buck TL, Krask JL, Stevens JB, Smith EM (2023) Elevation influences salt marsh crab abundance, diversity, and burrowing. Marine Ecology Progress Series 704:55-66; https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14229

Krask JL, Buck TL, Dunn RP, Smith EM (2022) Effects of increasing tidal inundation on nutrient availability in sediment porewater of a southeastern U.S. salt marsh. PLoS ONE 17(11) e0278215; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278215