Education: BA, University of Iowa, 1960
MNS, University of South Dakota, 1964
PhD, University of Iowa, 1967

Employment: Wapello Community Schools, 1960–63; University of Northern Iowa, 1967–present; Iowa Lakeside Laboratory Field Station 1991–present; Head of Department of Biology, 1981–88; Director of UNI Roadside Management Program, 1988–97; Director of Native Roadside Vegetation Center, 1998–2005; Director of Tallgrass Prairie Center, 2006–2013.

Honors: Conservation Award — Cedar Prairie Sierra Club, 1982; Environmental Educator — Iowa Sierra Club; 1994 AFIRM — Roadside Achievement Award; 1998 Iowa Nature Conservancy — Service Award 1998; Conservation Education Award — Iowa Wildlife Federation 1998; Distinguished Service Award — Iowa Academy of Science 1999; Service to UNI Biological Preserves 2003; Ross Nielsen Service Award — UNI; 2006 Excellence in Roadside Management: University Category; National Roadside Vegetation Management Association 2006; Regents Faculty Award for Excellence UNI 2007; IRVM Twenty-Year Service Award 2008; UNI Foundation Honorary Alumni Award, 2023; North American Prairie Conference Lifetime Achievement Award, 2023. 

Smith, a native of southeast Iowa, has been involved in science teaching for more than forty years. Following is a summary of his activities and achievements during his 41-year tenure at UNI.

• Taught more than thirty different courses in science and science education
• Served as head of the Biology Department for seven years
• Directed UNI Tallgrass Prairie Center programs for eleven years
• Continues to teach prairie ecology at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, field station for the Regents institutions, during the summer
• Maintained an active program in prairie preservation, management, and restoration since he planted an 8-acre tallgrass prairie on campus in 1973
• Directed the 12th and 22nd North American Prairie Conference and numerous Iowa prairie conferences 
• Served as a consultant for vegetation analysis and prairie reconstruction/restoration for Iowa DOT, Iowa DNR, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Created and implemented the Iowa Ecotype Project in 1990
• Active member of the Iowa Academy of Science and served as President in 1994–95
• Executive director and co-producer of the one-hour documentary film America’s Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie
• Co-recipient with David O’Shields, director and co-producer, of the Pare Lorentz Award from the International Documentary Association

Recent Publications: 

• 2010 — Smith, D, K. Henderson, G. Houseal, & D. Williams. Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide to Prairie Restoration in the Upper Midwest. University of Iowa Press
• 2010 — Houseal, Greg and Daryl Smith. Upland Sedge (Carex spp.) Propagation for Seed Increase. Proceedings of the 21st North American Prairie Conference-The Prairie Meets the River. Editors: B. Borsari, N. Mundahl, L. Reuter, E. Peters, P. Cochran. Winona State University
• 2010 — Williams, Dave and Daryl Smith. The Effects of Annual Rye on Native Plant Establishment When Seeded as a Nurse Crop in a Prairie Reconstruction. Proceedings of the 21st North American Prairie Conference-The Prairie Meets the River. Editors: B. Borsari, N. Mundahl, L. Reuter, E. Peters, P. Cochran. Winona State University
• 2008 — O’Shields, D. R. and D. D. Smith. Prescribed Fire in Grasslands (20-minute training film)
• 2008 — Smith, D. D. Book review of Roadside Weed Management by B. Harper Lore, M. Johnson and M. Skinner. Ecological Restoration Vol. 26 No. 2 pp. 83-84.
• 2007 — Williams, D.W., L.L. Jackson and D.D. Smith. Effects of frequent mowing on survival and persistence of forbs seeded into a species-poor grassland. Restoration Ecology Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 24-33
• 2006 — Williams, D.W., G.A. Houseal and D.D. Smith. Growth and reproduction of local ecotype and cultivated varieties of Panicum virgatum and Coreopsis palmata grown in common gardens. Proceedings of 19th North American Prairie Conference. ed by D. Egan and J.A. Harrington. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• 2004 — Native Roadside Vegetation: The Iowa Model. Proceedings High Altitude Revegetation Workshop No. 16. Ft. Collins, CO
• 2001 — Kitchen, Duane J., Daryl D. Smith, James J. Jurgenson and Steve L. O’Kane.  Genetic variation among remnant Iowa populations of rough blazing star (Liatris aspera). Proceedings of 17th North American Prairie Conference. Bernstein and L. J. Ostrander (eds.).  North Iowa Area Community College, Mason City, Iowa.
• 2001 — America’s Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie. Proceedings of the 17th North American Prairie Conference.  Ed. by N. P. Berstein and L. J. Ostrander. North Iowa Area Community College, Mason City, Iowa
• 2000 — Houseal, Greg, and Daryl Smith. Source Identified Seed: The Iowa Roadside Experience. Ecological Restoration  Vol. 18 No 2 pp. 173-183 (with Greg Houseal)
• 1998 — Iowa Prairie: Original Extend and Loss, Preservation and Recovery Attempts. Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science  Vol. 105 No. 3: pp. 94-108
• 1998 — Prairie Management. Iowa Prairie Blazing Star Volume 3  Issue 1 Spring