Heidi Smith

Office: 316 Barnard Hall
Specialty: Correlative analytical imaging
E-mail: heidi.smith@montana.edu

Professional Preparation

  • Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Center for Biofilm Engineering, 2016–2018
  • PhD, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 2016
    Dissertation: “Microbial community composition and the transformation of dissolved organic matter in supraglacial environments”

 

In 2018, Heidi Smith joined the CBE as its bioimaging facility manager. Heidi oversees a multi-million-dollar microscopy facility that provides services to all researchers in the CBE. She plays a vital role in facilitating techniques and technology to understand how different microorganisms within complex microbial communities interact in diverse environments. Heidi is focused on developing new ways to bring together disparate microscopy platforms in a manner that is beneficial for CBE researchers as well as CBE industrial members. Throughout her career, Heidi has been engaged in collaborative, interdisciplinary research across a variety of ecosystems. She has attended numerous courses on image analysis and has expertise in data sequencing, EEMS spectral analysis, laser microdissection microscopy, BONCAT, and FISH. As a PhD student, Heidi earned a competitive 3-year NASA Earth and Space Fellowship as well as an internship at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Germany.

CBE's Bioimaging Facility is a Montana State University CORE and includes four separate laboratories—the Optical Microscopy Lab, the Confocal Microscopy Lab, the Chemical Imaging Lab, and the Microscope Resource Room and Digital Imaging Lab. Instrumentation in the facility includes two confocal microscopes, digital imaging equipment that can create time-lapse movies of microscopic samples, a Raman confocal microscope, and multiple high-end optical microscopes and stereo microscopes. For questions about the facility and its capabilities, contact Heidi.

Heidi Smith CV

Publications (searchable by author)

CBE Bioimaging and Analytical Core Labs

Related News

MSU receives $3 million NSF grant to support innovative graduate research on extreme microbes MSU News 09/27/2021

MSU receives Murdock grant for biofilm microscope MSU News 04/26/2021

MSU receives $1.5 million for cutting-edge, versatile research equipment MSU News 11/05/2020

Cryospheric science: The power of glacial microbes Nature Geoscience: News and Views April 3, 2017

MSU scientists publish study on glacial carbon cycle” MSU News April 3, 2017

Glacier bacteria’s contribution to carbon cycling Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology. April 03, 2017

MSU doctoral student publishes research on microbial biofilms and carbon cycling on glacial surfaces MSU News June 13, 2016

Hotspots for biological activity and carbon cycling on glaciers Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology June 13, 2016