Carleton Professor Kim Smith receives Lifetime Achievement award
The award honors environmental professionals who have devoted their lives to mentoring the next generation of environmental scientists and activists.
The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) has awarded Dr. Kim Smith, professor of environmental studies and political science at Carleton College, the William R. Freudenburg Lifetime Achievement Award.
This award seeks to recognize and advance the spirit of AESS co-founder, the late Professor William R. Freudenburg, who spawned a new generation of environmental professionals and academics who have pursued interdisciplinary research to address some of the most pressing issues of our time. Through this award, AESS honors members of the profession who also have devoted their lives to strengthening the field by mentoring the next generation of environmental scientists and activists.
Professor Smith is a long-time and unfailing supporter and a founding member and past president of AESS. She has attracted and supported new membership and new scholars in AESS by leading workshops on “How to Get Published” in Environmental Studies and Sciences, chairing the Nominations Committee and working tirelessly to improve AESS. She is a top scholar in environmental studies and political science, and through her work has advanced the understanding of, and capacity to effectively address, political science and ethical issues in environmental studies and sciences.
Smith joined the Carleton faculty in 1999 with a background in political theory, American political institutions and policy, and law. She currently teaches courses in environmental ethics, environmental justice, environmental law and policy, and constitutional law. Her first book, The Dominion of Voice: Riot, Reason and Romance in Antebellum Politics, was published in 1999 and awarded the 2001 Merle Curti Intellectual History Award by the Organization of American Historians. In 2008, her published book African American Environmental Thought: Foundations was named “Outstanding Academic Title” by Choice Magazine. Her other published books include Wendell Berry and the Agrarian Tradition: A Common Grace, Governing Animals: Animal Welfare and the Liberal State, Exploring Environmental Ethics, and most recently The Conservation Constitution: The Conservation Movement and Constitutional Change, 1870-1930. She has published articles in the Journal of Political Philosophy, Women’s Studies, Environmental Values, Environmental Ethics, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, and the Journal for Environmental Studies and Sciences.
Smith received her AB from University of Michigan, her JD from University of California at Berkeley, and her PhD from the University of Michigan. Prior to coming to Carleton, she served as a visiting associate professor at Princeton University, an assistant professor at Tuskegee University, and adjunct professor at Oakland Community College. She also spent time as a law clerk in California and Michigan.
About the AESS
The AESS is a scholarly and professional organization that promotes interdisciplinary research, teaching and service for faculty and students in the more than 1,000 Environmental academic programs nationwide and beyond.
Professor Smith will be recognized along with fellow 2020 AESS award winners at a virtual ceremony during the AESS Annual Conference, July 15-17, 2020.