| LOUIS T. BENEZET AWARD RECIPIENT 2007 |
 Sharon Louise Smith '67
When she was a student at Colorado College, Sharon Smith thought she wanted to be a physician.
But in her junior year, she had an awakening of sorts. “I thought, ‘how would I feel if one of my patients died?’ she said. “I realized I wasn’t temperamentally suited to be a physician.”
Sharon didn’t stray from science, however. She continued on, choosing to study zoology and specializing in oceanography and the ecology of zooplankton, organisms that play an important role in aquatic food webs.
Today, her work is dedicated to taking care of a different kind of patient – the Earth. As a professor in marine biology and fisheries at the University of Miami, Sharon has devoted much of her life to research related to global warming.
She lives in Coral Gables, Fla., but she has traveled the world for her research. Since the late 1970s, she has conducted oceanic research in two vastly different environments - the Arctic Ocean and the Arabian Sea.
Sharon says her life today is both professionally rewarding and exciting. People around the world are more aware of global warming than they were when she started her work. “It’s interesting and fulfilling to talk to audiences and have some common understanding,” she says. “But at the same time that awareness is growing, the planet is showing distress.”
Faced by funding challenges, Sharon and her fellow researchers continue their work. She spent much of last year on a Fulbright Scholar Award in Oman, heading out to sea each day with a Bedouin fisherman named Juma to sample zooplankton.
Sharon often sets out to sea with groups of scientists that all have different specialties. “It’s been extremely satisfying to be able to work with a team of the very best people.”
When she looks back on her career, she says she feels fortunate it has allowed her to see the world and explore new places with the aid of local scientists’ knowledge.
“Travel has been an enriching and enjoyable ‘aside’ to the scientific research,” she says.
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