In addition to research, I do a lot of popular-science writing, and I sometimes write about issues in academics. Listed below are the various magazine, newspaper, and online articles that I have published since 2012.
Newspaper, Magazine & Website Articles (by David R. Smith)
- Dear professor, watch what you tweet. University Affairs. 17 Dec 2018.
- Do profs need social media insurance? Western News. 27 Mar 2018.
- Confessions of an email addict. University Affairs. 3 Nov 2017.
- Pole to pole: positive steps towards a Canadian Antarctic research program. Above & Beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal. May/June 2017 issue. (co-author: Marina Cvetkovska)
- Teaching in the age of social media. University Affairs. 4 Apr 2017.
- The plant Lophophytum pilfers mitochondrial genes from the species it parasitizes. The Scientist. 1 Feb 2017. PDF
- Exams: it is not just the students who get stressed out. University Affairs. 30 Nov 2016.
- Are you suffering from academic attention deficit disorder? Western News. 15 Sep 2016 (Vol52, No23). PDF
- Missing link to complex life found deep in the Arctic Ocean. Above & Beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal. May/June 2016 Issue.
- Smart people don’t run. Western News. 28 Apr 2016. PDF
- Let’s do away with the auto-reply email. Western News. 31 Mar 2016.
- One professor’s story of trial and error (and cursing). University Affairs. 3 Nov 2015.
- The end of PowerPoint? University Affairs. 21 Oct 2015.
- Survival manual for new faculty. University Affairs. 9 Sep 2015 (by Ashleigh Vanhouten, including David Smith)
- Too many mitochondrial genome papers. The Scientist. 29 June 2015.
- Show me the money: Is our obsession with grant money creating an avoid-teaching-at-all-costs mindset? Academic Matters. 1 June 2015.
- Advice for those looking to join an academic lab. University Affairs. 10 Sep 2014.
- Bioinformatics software: a buyer’s guide. The Scientist. 2 Sep 2014.
- Dealing with anxiety as a professor. University Affairs. 14 Apr 2014.
- Ancient arctic beasts feasted on wildflowers. Above & Beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal. Apr/May 2014.
- Frozen Ancestry. Above & Beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal. Mar/Apr 2014.
- Meet the next generation of social-media-savvy graduate students. University Affairs. 26 Feb 2014.
- We should embrace rejection. University Affairs. 5 Feb 2014.
- Heavy metal microbes. University Affairs. 1 Feb 2014.
- Academic attention deficit disorder. Academic Matters. 11 Oct 2013.
- DNA exposes ancient island love affair between polar and brown bears. Above & Beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal. Sep/Oct 2013 issue.
- An academic journey to Qatar. University Affairs. Aug 2013. A feature article about my dad, Frank Smith.
- Grant writing, an occupational hazard. University Affairs. 31 May 2013.
- Undercover Arctic algae impact ocean ecosystems. Above & Beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal. May/June 2013 issue.
- The big benefits of working in a small lab. University Affairs. 13 March 2013.
- Sequencing the arctic. Above & Beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal. March/April 2013 issue.
- Cooperating to study cooperation. The Scientist. 20 Feb 2013.
- What to expect from your first teaching assessments. University Affairs. 23 Jan 2013.
- Steal my sunshine. The Scientist. Jan 2013, Vol 27, Issue 1.
- This was a feature article in the Jan 2013 print issue of The Scientist.
- Learning from transcriptomes. The Scientist. 28 Nov 2012.
- Keep your job talk short and simple. University Affairs. 7 Nov 2012.
- Chilled out! Guru Science Magazine. Aug 2012 issue.
- One Microbe’s 15 minutes. The Scientist. 4 Jul 2012.
- The hobby geneticist: the everyday people who play with DNA for fun. Guru Science Magazine. 3 July 2012.