[2] She is honored with being the first female scientist at Brown University to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Schmitt was awarded her Ph.D. in biology from Stanford University in 1981 where she studied with evolutionary biologist Ward Watt.
She joined Brown University in 1982 where she eventually became a Stephen T. Olney Professor of Natural History.
[1] An example of her research includes determining the roles of genetic and climatic variation in the model plant Arabidopsis.
[1] Schmitt's research is also on the forefront in using modeling to investigate how climate change will affect the distribution and success of plants.