Rebecca Smith

Rebecca Smith is an assistant professor of translational plant science for dairy sustainability in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences and the Dairy Innovation Hub at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a co-investigator in the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC). She is a trainer in the agronomy, agroecology and plant breeding and plant genetics (PBPG) programs. The Smith lab research focuses on how to genetically engineer the plant cell wall in forage and bioenergy crops to improve plant digestibility, animal nutrition, and dairy sustainability. Trainees in the Smith lab use multidisciplinary approaches, including cutting edge genetic tools, cell and molecular biology, microscopy, biochemistry and analytical chemistry, to probe basic and applied questions about the plant cell wall.