Mary Kenney Smith grew up in West Virginia surrounded by woods and National Geographics. She earned her BS in Biochemistry from Ohio University in 1994 and her MS in Molecular Pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA in 2000.  She spent her early career studying the biochemical signaling pathways involved in carcinogenesis and asthma. After moving to Asheville, Mary started teaching in 2012. This is her fifth year teaching chemistry at the Franklin School of Innovation.  In her free time, Mary enjoys cooking, listening to music, dancing, harvesting flowers, and exploring the forests with her family and dog Minnie Pearl.