Every now and then UNE’s “closet thespian”, Dr Erica Smith, looks at acclaimed Australian actor Cate Blanchett and imagines what it would be like to command an international audience. But not for long.
“I wanted to be either an actor, an astronaut or an Olympic athlete, but I was also very good at mathematics at school,” Erica says. “The career prospects for acting were not so good, so I enrolled in science, thinking I would study mathematics. But I drifted into chemistry and that’s where I found my true passion.”
However, it was not always the perfect part. “I failed chemistry in my second year because I didn’t have the foundation knowledge and I lacked confidence. However, I think this has made me a better teacher because I have genuine empathy for students who might be struggling.”
As well as amateur drama skills – which do come in handy – Erica brings to her lecturing role considerable practical experience. After graduating from the University of Sydney she worked for Unilever in the United Kingdom as a research chemist, for chemical and healthcare businesses in Europe and Australia, and lectured at the Lonestar College in the United States.
She had never lived in a country town before moving to Armidale, in 2010, and worried about losing her anonymity. “Now I love the sense of community, it’s clean and the people are great,” Erica says. “Armidale has everything a city has in terms of culture, without the city stress and cost of living.”
The smaller student population also enables the Senior Lecturer in Chemistry to adopt a more personal approach. She encourages students to use her first name and along with her colleagues in chemistry, regularly shares morning tea with honours and PhD candidates. Building relationships, she says, undoubtedly enhances student experiences and outcomes.
“At UNE, staff invest in students and care about their studies and careers,” Erica says. “I have the opportunity to engage with students about the challenges they face and to provide the support they need. Why, I have even done chemistry tutoring with a waitress over dinner.”
Active learning in classrooms and innovative online teaching sets UNE apart. “We are the only institution in Australia where you can study a full chemistry major online, with the addition of some intensive schools,” Erica says. “For people with family responsibilities and jobs, that flexibility is key.”
Her dedication earned Erica two major awards in 2016 – an Australian Awards for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, and a University of New England Excellence in Teaching Award. She is a passionate supporter of the Far Out Science program, which encourages school students to visit the UNE campus and consider a future in science, and helped to develop a pilot mentoring program for first-year female students studying STEM subjects.
As a computational chemist, who models molecular behaviour using mathematics and computers, Erica’s research interests are wide-ranging. She is particularly curious about water – like how antifreeze proteins interact with cell membranes and how polymers might prevent scale from developing in chemical plants, potentially saving millions of dollars in maintenance. “Water is a remarkable substance with unique properties and a lot of its behaviour is poorly understood,” Erica says.