Ronald L. Smith, Author

Ron Smith grew up in the American Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico, and southern California.  He graduated high school in Palmdale, California, and earned a BA in biology from Occidental College, in Eagle Rock, California. He attended graduate school at the University of Miami, Institute of Marine Science, Coral Gables, Florida, earning both MS and PhD degrees in marine sciences.

After completing his graduate studies, he went to Fairbanks, Alaska, and taught biology in the Department of Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska Fairbanks for 31 years. His teaching included introductory biology, natural history, marine biology, animal physiology, vertebrate biology, invertebrate biology and biology of fishes.

His publications to date include forty-four scientific papers in refereed science journals, mostly about Alaskan animals.  In 2008, he published Interior and Northern Alaska: A Natural History. Two years later, he and his artist/friend, Mareca Guthrie, completed Interior and Northern Alaska Coloring Book. In 2013, Ron teamed up with artist/cartoonist/friend Jeanne Mars Armstrong to produce How Not to Die Hunting in Alaska.

The Natural History book served as the basis for Ron’s development of two Alaska science curricula, primarily aimed at home-school students. Currently, he has a high school-level curriculum packet and an elementary/middle school packet, each including the book, a curriculum CD and the Spirit of the Arctic DVD.

Ron and his wife, Marsha, divide their time between Fairbanks and the Hill Country of Texas. They enjoy wildlife, being outdoors, hunting, fishing, travel, the arts, and reading interesting books. Additional family members include his older son, Andy and family in Osaka, Japan, daughter Hilary and husband in Santa Rosa, California, and younger son Jason and wife in Seattle, Washington.