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La Selva flea beetle project* Sierra Nevada Willow beetle project *Weather-Beetle MS * La Selva Museo Accidental * Palomar project * Whiting Family History
John and Kim Smiley
John and Kim now live on a nature reserve on Palomar Mountain, San Diego County, California. John and Kim, with help from daughters Sonrisa and Rose (and Joel and Eric!) are creating a low-impact, semi-outdoor living environment on 55 acres of Oak/Fir woodland and sage/buckwheat chaparral.
John was
born in Tucson, Arizona and graduated from Catalina High School
in 1968 and from Stanford University in 1972. He earned
his Ph.D. degree under the direction of Larry Gilbert at the
University of Texas, investigating the host plant relationships
of passionflower butterflies in Costa Rica . Then he began an
assistant professorship with the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology at the University of California, Irvine. During this
time John conducted field research in Corcovado National Park
in Costa Rica, the Brisbane rain forest in Australia, and the
Sierra Nevada in California, studying insect/plant relationships
and chemical ecology. John and wife Nancy Kays also raised two children, Terry and Annie Smiley.
Kim was born in San Diego, and lived all across California in various State Parks where her father was a park ranger. She graduated from Marina High School in 1978 and from UC Irvine in 1985. Kim first taught outdoor education and later science and math in the public school system.
In 1986, John and Kim moved to Big Sur, California where John become resident
manager of the Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve. He remained in
that position for 17 years, building up the reserve's programs
and infrastructure. During that time he continued summer field
research on willow leaf beetles in the Sierra Nevada, California,
as well as serving on the local school board for 8 years. John also facilitated the creation of the Big Creek State Marine Reserve, one of the first of its kind in California, along with several other monitoring and conservation projects. These included the Big Sur Skiff Fishing Survey (still ongoing for more than 25 years!), the Santa Lucia Natural History Symposium, the Big Sur Roadkill Survey, and several revegetation projects. John also wrote "Nature Notes from Big Creek," a monthly column published in the Big Sur Roundup. In partnership with Big Creek Land Steward Feynner Arias, he also developed techniques for managing road and trail infrastructure on the steep terrain in the reserve. During those years John and Kim raised two more children, Rose and Sonrisa, who were joined summers by Terry and Annie.
In Big Sur Kim taught science and math for 15 years at Pacific Valley School, California's smallest unified K-12 school. She developed innovative teaching methods and materials, emphasizing the students' potential to be a "local expert". Several projects were completed, including "Go Bananas", "Stoked on Oaks" and "Catch a Wave". Kim also created an educational museum consisting of road-killed wildlife, the "Road Kill Museum".
In
2003 Kim and John and family moved to Bishop, California for John to head up field
operations for the White
Mountain Research Center (WMRC), a research unit of the
University of California. When not working with the talented staff, installing solar electric
equipment or trying to figure out unusual propane installations
at Barcroft, he continued the study of willow leaf beetles. This work, done in collaboration with Professors Nathan Rank of Sonoma State University and Elizabeth Dahlhoff of Santa Clara University, continues to the present day. John also led the creation of the annual "GLORIA Field Week" at the WMRC, part of the GLORIA global monitoring project. In 2012, John
retired from the Associate Directorship of WMRC.
In Bishop Kim created a second "Road Kill Museum," while teaching outdoor education to students in the local schools. Later she became the 7th grade math teacher at Home Street Middle School and got to know all the young people in the community!
In retirement, as a UCSD Research Affiliate, John continued his work on Sierra Nevada willow leaf beetles. In 2012 he began a new project in Costa Rica comparing the natural history of Passiflora-feeding flea beetles and butterflies to determine the sources of species diversity (see link above). This project has included over sixteen months in residence for John and Kim at the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. During this time Kim created her third educational museum, the "La Selva Museo Accidental." She also learned to knit sweaters, vests, socks, shawls, hats, toys and lots of other useful and beautiful things.
Scientific
interests: John has done field research nearly every summer (since 1981!)in the mountains of California: Ecological and Evolutionary Responses to Environmental Change in Sierra Nevada Willow Beetles. Beginning in October 2012, he also began a new project on the flea beetles of Passiflora vines at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica: Passionflowers, Butterflies, and Flea Beetle Natural History and Diversity. For lots of boring details,
and no pictures, see John's two
page resume (or see pdf
version) or my detailed Academic
Curriculum Vitae. He recently dug out his PhD
thesis and scanned it. No great read, but surprisingly readable!
Other
interests: John: mountaineering/hiking, outdoor living, bug-ology, listening to
music, education, supporting whatever the wife, kids and grandkids are into...Kim: knitting, curating a third Roadkill Museum...Both: travelling, camping, visiting grandkids, making a living habitat at Palomar; now have two grand-daughters and three grandsons!
Contact
Information: John and Kim Smiley, P.O.Box 101, Palomar Mountain, California, 92060,
jsmiley at ucsd dot edu, maatmom44 at yahoo dot com.
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Barcroft
2005
What
a difference 30 years makes!
Kim
Rosie and Jenna
Terry
and Alma
Rose and Eric wedding
