AAFC Remote Sensing Scientist and Adjunct Professor in Geography & Environment
Honoured at Retirement
The Department of Geography & Environment and the Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Centre (ATIC) at the University of Lethbridge are honoured to congratulate long-serving Adjunct Professor Dr. Anne M. Smith on the occasion of her retirement from the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Dr. Smith joined AAFC-LRDC in 1992, was appointed Federal Government Research Scientist in 2000, and became Adjunct Professor with the University in 2001. She has collaborated with and shared her active research program in remote sensing with members of ATIC and the Department, and most notably has created numerous educational opportunities for students. This has ranged from teaching in undergraduate classes from introductory to senior levels, to committee member and co-supervisor for numerous graduate students, as well as hosting many CO-OP placements and summer internships.
Proud to be from Scotland, and with B.Sc. (Hons) and Ph.D. degrees from University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Anne has provided our students not only with exposure to valuable and diverse agricultural applications of remote sensing, but has done so with the highest standards of integrity, rigour, proper science, and with an unmatched commitment to both education and the advancement of science. This has included teaching and thesis projects hosted at AAFC and exposure to equipment, facilities and collaborators that has greatly enhanced the student and faculty experience, as well as creating synergies within her research program through collaboration with ATIC scientists and our laboratory facilities at the University.
Anne’s research, publications, presentations, outreach and collaborations, including with the University and our students, has spanned an impressive breath of topics and opportunities in the application of remote sensing technology in agriculture, such as mapping grassland and crop species, variability and invasive weeds; airborne and satellite multispectral, hyperspectral and radar image analysis; field, ground-based, greenhouse and laboratory spectral measurement and analysis; as well as integration with GIS. She was honoured as co-author to receive the 2011 Best Paper Award of the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing.
We also congratulate Anne on receiving the “Outstanding Service Award” from the Canadian Remote Sensing Society (CRSS-SCT.ca) at the recent 42nd Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing hosted online earlier this month by the University of Lethbridge and partners. Anne served on the CRSS-SCT Executive for over 15 years, including as Vice-President, President and Past-President of the Society during 2009-2018. Several of us worked directly with Anne in these capacities on the CRSS-SCT Executive, and in addition to everything she has contributed to the University, Anne has made lengthy and meritorious contributions nationally.
True to form, Anne has already introduced us to her successor at AAFC-LRDC who we look forward to working with. Anne will remain an interested party as an AAFC Honourary Scientist, and, given her Scottish heritage and pending retirement, will have more time for golf and curling. She of course also looks forward to being able to travel again to her homeland. We thank Dr. Smith for everything she has provided as a dedicated educator and scientist, respected colleague, and dear friend, and we wish Anne and her family the very best in the exciting years ahead.