Jansen Smith

Smith, Jensen

Big Questions in Paleontology – The Paleosynthesis Project

Research Interests

  • Predator-prey interactions in the fossil record with a focus on mollusks and factors biasing their preservation
  • Application of the fossil record to the understanding of the modern biodiversity crisis, particularly to assess the effects of human actions on ecosystems (i.e., conservation paleobiology)
  • In each of these research areas, I am also very interested in developing new analytical approaches, and integrating approaches from other fields, to increase the utility and transference of paleontological data

  • 2020 – 2022: Post-doctoral researcher on the Paleosynthesis Project, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnburg
  • 2018 – 2020: Research scientist, Paleontological Research Institution
  • 2018 – 2020: Research and Learning Professional, Engineering Learning Initiatives at Cornell University
  • 2018 – 2019: Lecturer, Ithaca College
  • 2012 – 2018: PhD in Conservation Paleobiology, Cornell University
  • 2008 – 2012: BSc in Geology and Biology, Macalester College

    • 2020
    • Smith, J.A., Dietl, G.P., & Durham, S.R., Increasing the salience of marine live-dead data in the Anthropocene, Paleobiology; in press. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2020.19

2019

    • Flessa, K.W., Calderon-Aguilera, L., Cintra-Buenrostro, C.E., Dettman, D.L., Dietl, G.P., Goodwin, D.H., Jacobs, D.K., Kowalewski, M.K., Nelson, S.M., Rowell, K., Schöne, Smith, J.A., & Zamora-Arroyo, F., Vaquita face extinction from bycatch. Comment on Manjarrez-Bringas et al., Lessons for sustainable development: Marine mammal conservation policies and its social and economic effects, Sustainability: 11, 2161. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11072161
    • Flessa, K.W., Calderon, L.E., Cintra-Buenrostro, C.E., Dettman, D.L., Dietl, G.P., Goodwin, D.H., Jacobs, D.K., Kowalewski, M.K., Nelson, S.M., Rowell, K., Schöne, Smith, J.A., & Zamora-Arroyo, F., Comment on Rojas-Bracho and Colleagues (2019): Unsubstantiated claims can lead to tragic conservation outcomes, Bioscience, biz021. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz021
    • Smith, J.A., & Dietl, G.P., Molluscan metacommunity dynamics in the Colorado River estuary, Mexico prior to upstream water diversion, Anthropocene: 25, 100194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2019.100194
    • Smith, J.A., Dietl, G.P., & Handley, J.C., Durophagy bias: The effect of shell destruction by crushing predators on drilling frequency, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology: 514, 690-694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.11.019
    • Dietl, G.P., Smith, J.A., & Durham, S.R., Discounting the past: The undervaluing of temporally distant paleontological data in the conservation sciences. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution: 7, 108. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00108

2018

    • Smith, J.A., Handley, J.C., & Dietl, G.P., Effects of dams on downstream molluscan predator-prey interactions in the Colorado River estuary, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Proceedings B: 285, 20180724. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0724
    • Smith, J.A., Handley, J.C., & Dietl, G.P., On drilling frequency and Manly’s alpha: Towards a null model for predator preference in paleoecology, PALAIOS: 33, 61-68. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2017.098
    • Smith, J.A., Durham, S.R., & Dietl, G.P., Conceptions of long-term data among marine conservation biologists and what conservation paleobiologists need to know, In: Marine Conservation Paleobiology (Topics in Geobiology), Tyler, C.L., Schneider, C.L. (eds), p. 23-54. https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319737935#aboutAuthors

2017

    • Dietl, G.P., & Smith, J.A., Live-dead analysis reveals long-term response of estuarine bivalve communities to damming and water diversions of the Colorado River, Ecological Engineering: 106, 749-756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.09.013

2016

  • Smith, J.A., & Dietl, G.P., The value of geohistorical data in identifying a recent human-induced range expansion of a predatory gastropod in the Colorado River delta, Mexico, Journal of Biogeography: 43, 791-800. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12644
  • Dietl, G.P., Durham, S.R., Smith, J.A., & Tweitmann, A., Mollusk assemblages as records of past and present ecological status, Frontiers in Marine Science: 3, 169. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2016.00169
  • Smith, J.A., Auerbach, D., Flessa, K.W., Flecker, A., & Dietl, G.P., Fossil clam shells reveal unintended carbon cycling consequences of Colorado River management, Royal Society Open Science: 3, 160170. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160170