Val Houston Smith (1950–2016): Putting the Puzzle Together from Organelles to Ecosystems

Val Houston Smith, aquatic ecologist and Professor of Ecology at the University of Kansas, died at home on 02 April 2016 surrounded by his family. He was 65. Val is preceded in death by his mother, Marcia (Dunn), succeeded in death by his father, Fray Smith, and survived by his wife, Marilyn; sister, Bridget Wilson; and daughters, Niki and Rosie Smith. Val's academic career started as an undergraduate at the University of Kansas (KU), a place he would eventually call his lifelong home. Mentored by John O'Brien, Val earned Bachelor's degrees in Chemistry and Biology at KU. Val also met his future wife and love of his life, Marilyn Smith, at KU. The two were married in 1972. Once each had finished their respective studies at KU, they moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey to attend graduate school at Rutgers University. After earning Master's degrees in 1976, their path led to doctoral programs at the University of Minnesota. At Minnesota, Val's career was sparked by two faculty members who would ultimately become his mentors and academic advisors: Drs. G. David Tilman and Joseph Shapiro. Tilman stimulated Val's interest in resource-ratio theory, while Shapiro oversaw his laboratory and field-based limnological experiments. Val's time at Minnesota was also shaped by his involvement in the Limnological Research Center, a research group led by his co-advisor Joe Shapiro, as well as many now well-known ecologists and limnologists. The Limnological Research Center neolimnology section focused on the responses of algae to increases in nutrient concentrations and the restoration of freshwater ecosystems, including ways to decrease the dominance of blue-green algae. Val completed his Ph.D. in 1982; ideas and research from it fueled one of his most notable publications, “Low nitrogen to phosphorus ratios favor dominance by blue-green algae in lake phytoplankton” published in Science in 1983. He would later be given ASLO's prestigious John Martin Award in 2013 for the publication. Val Smith (1950–2016) Val then moved to Canada to work with Frank Rigler on a NATO postdoctoral fellowship at McGill University. Although Rigler passed on before Val arrived, with new mentors, Robert Peters and Jaap Kalff, Val completed all projects the two had planned to conduct. The limnology group at McGill had a major influence on his career and spurred life-long friendships. Val and Marilyn also thoroughly enjoyed the city of Montréal, which Val would often refer to as the family's second home. Val would then receive his first faculty position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985, before returning to Canada as a Visiting Scientist at the Université de Montréal from 1992 to 1993. He finally returned to the place he would call home, the University of Kansas, in the summer of 1993. Once at KU, Val's research expanded past the bounds of most limnologists to explore patterns and underlying mechanisms across the full domain of biology. In addition to numerous publications on the effects of freshwater and marine eutrophication, his research interests also included disease ecology, resource-ratio theory, invasibility of exotic species, aquatic biodiversity, terrestrial ecology, microbial competition and community structure, phosphorus recycling and reuse, environmental economics, cellular and organelle ecology, algal metabolite production and occurrence, ecological stoichiometry, algal biofuel ecology and production, and the effect and fate of persistent organic pollutants in aquatic communities. His broad research led to 10 book chapters, 13 papers in symposium or conference proceedings, 20 non-refereed articles, over 200 seminars and presentations, and more than 110 journal articles in 56 different journals, 25 of which have been cited more than 100 times to date. In total, his work has been cited more than 15,500 times. His legacy contains more than an impressive set of world renowned publications; he was also an active and engaging mentor and teacher who spawned the careers of one post-doc, eight Doctoral students, nine Master's students, and numerous undergraduate students. He was a highly awarded teacher, receiving multiple teaching awards at both the Universities of Kansas and North Carolina. He also was an active member of societies like the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, the International Society of Limnology, the Ecological Society of America, the American Chemical Society, and Sigma Xi, reviewed many complete books, book chapters, and journal articles, served KU on a myriad of committees and advisory boards, and was an integral part of the Lawrence, Kansas community. Val left a mark on science. Throughout his career, he consistently had a knack for describing and stimulating research that filled forgotten or unnoticed research gaps. While science was his vessel to international recognition, he was just as well known for his warm, friendly, caring personality. A life-time's group of friends and notable colleagues traveled from various parts of the globe to KU in April 2015 for a day-long symposium to support Val after his cancer diagnosis; a true testament of Val's far-reaching impacts on science and the societies he loved so much. Because of his joy in others, his unquenchable love of discovery, and his deep sense of fairness, Val represents the person we all strive to become throughout each of our own lives. He will be sorely missed by those who knew him, and by the generations of young scientists who will be left with only his insightful work to guide their own scientific endeavors. “Most people have spent their time trying to figure out one puzzle piece. I've spent mine trying to put the puzzle together. Without seeing the completed puzzle, it's hard to know where to put the pieces”—Val Smith, December 2015 Inland Waters dedicated volume 6, issue 2 to Val's legacy. Donations can be made to the American Cancer Society, KUMC cancer center, or the charity of the donor's choice. Ted Harris, University of Kansas, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Lawrence, Kansas Jerry deNoyelles, University of Kansas, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Lawrence, Kansas Dave Tilman, University of Minnesota, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, St. Paul, Minnesota

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