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Kathleen (Kate) Smits is the Solomon Professor for Global Development in ¾«¶«´«Ã½'s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Fellow in the Cox Business School Maguire Energy Institute. Prior to ¾«¶«´«Ã½, Kate was a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington from 2018 - 2022 and associate professor at Colorado School of Mines from 2010- 2018 and the U.S. Air Force Academy from 2004-07. She's served as an officer and civil and environmental engineering project manager in the U.S. Air Force, including various deployments and is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. Kate's research interests are focused on energy and the environment with applications to natural gas leakage, the clean up of contaminated soils and waterways, and the storage of renewable energy. Much of her research looks toward the development of tools and models to better understand such systems. Kate teaches courses in energy and environmental management, environmental remediation engineering, contaminant transport modeling, water resources and other topics that align with furthering research in these areas.

Smits is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the Soil Science Society of America, the American Society of Engineering Education and the Society of American Military Engineers. She is the recipient of numerous awards, honors and recognitions including the NSF Faculty Career Award and outstanding educator awards and fellowships from the U.S. Air Force Academy and Colorado School of Mines. Over her career, Smits has published more than 100 peer-reviewed technical publications and served in a number of editorship roles, most notably as co-editor and science communication editor of Vadose Zone Journal and associate editor of the Journal of Hydrology. She has been invited to speak at more than 150 engagements, including industry and regulatory workshops on oil and gas leak detection and international engineering education symposiums.

Her contact information and research websites are:
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