Research in the College of Arts and Sciences
In recognition of the outstanding efforts of our students, faculty and staff, on a regular basis we will acknowledge the work of a member of the college. Today, we recognize- Jeremy Smith….
Arts and Sciences Honors ... Dr. Jeremy Smith, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Within the last three years, he was published in Science Magazine, named editor at a major scientific journal and given one of the most prestigious national awards for scholarly research, but the question that is always on Dr. Jeremy Smith's mind is "what's next?"
Smith joined New Mexico State University in 2003 and is currently an associate professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, a department within the College of Arts and Sciences.
"Dr. Jeremy Smith is an extremely accomplished inorganic chemist," says William Quintana, head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
In February of 2011, after three years of research, Smith and graduate student, Jeremiah Scepaniak's research was published in Science Magazine.
"Essentially, there was indirect evidence that a particular form of iron could be formed," Smith says, "and we found really solid evidence that it can be formed." This was the first of Smith's work to be published in Science Magazine.
"Chemists don't get papers published in this magazine very often, so that was a really big deal," says Quintana. "What they discovered jointly is very significant."
Likely related to his very impressive resume of published research, Smith was recently named an editor of Inorganica Chimica Acta, a scientific peer-reviewed journal. He says his role is looking over submitted manuscripts, finding experts to review it, and ultimately determining what is and isn't suitable for publication in the journal. Smith is one of three editors who choose material for Inorganica Chimica Acta.
"It's definitely recognition that people know of you," Smith says. He was recommended as a possibility when the journal started the search for a young academic to replace a Canadian editor who stepped down. Smith joined two other editors, one based in Italy and one in Germany.
In 2009, Smith received the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award, which recognizes talented young faculty in the United States. Other award recipients that year hailed from institutions like University of California-Berkeley and CalTech, Smith says.
"It's a very big thing," Smith says of winning the award, but he was already wondering what to do next. "As soon as you get something like that done, you're already looking at the next thing, there's always something next."
Smith's newest project is focused on the possibility of using temperature to change the magnetic properties of certain molecules that would be the basis of a molecular-scale switch.
"As magnetic properties change, often the colors change, so using the molecules in a display is one potential use," Smith says. "Any time that you want to switch the size of a molecule, this could be applicable."
Though still in very early stages, Smith says he looks forward to learning more about what this means and the possible ramifications.
Smith admits that it can be difficult to stay enthused in the middle of a long project, but that in the end, it's always worth the hard work. "When they work out, it's pretty cool," he says.
"We're making new things, discovering things," Smith says. "It's motivating when you get an interesting result."