Alexis M. Smoot

Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Alexis Smoot loved helping her parents with home improvement projects, and figuring out how things worked. She developed a passion for environmental issues, and knew she wanted to pursue environmental engineering.                             

Alexis earned a full scholarship to FIU, and quickly got to work. Starting her junior year, she participated in the FIU and Department of Energy Workforce Development Program. She was a student researcher during the school year, and over the summer was stationed at a DOE facility in Washington, D.C. where she created a sustainability index to measure and compare different environmental remediation technologies, which are used to remove contaminants from groundwater and soil.

Alexis worked on another project for the DOE through FIU’s Applied Research Center. For two years, alongside her mentor, Ravi Gudavalli, she studied soil samples from the Savannah River National Laboratory to see how to best remove uranium at the site. Uranium damages wildlife and is hazardous. In drinking water, it causes long-term health issues.

Alexis also was a member of the Honors College, and served as president of FIU’s Chapter of Society of Women Engineers. This past spring, she joined her church on a mission trip to assist with Hurricane Matthew recovery in Haiti, where she helped children at an orphanage start a garden.

Next, Alexis hopes to find a job either with the DOE or in industry focusing on hazardous waste remediation, sustainability and conservation. 

By Millie Acebal
Senior Account Manager, College of Engineering & Computing