Daniel J. Smith

Daniel J Smith

With a master’s degree in geology and a minor in Media and Theatre Arts from Montana State University, Daniel J. Smith founded Earthtalk Studios in 1991. Over twenty years Earthtalk developed an internationally-recognized portfolio of interactive science education and multimedia delivered via the web and other media platforms.

As a student at MSU, Smith received the Galusha Award for his film The Sheepeaters: Keepers of the Past. Later with archaeologist Les Davis, Smith’s film People of the Hearth: Paleoindians of the Northern Rockies won First Place in the 1993 American Association of Museums’ Fourth Annual Muse Awards. His team at Earthtalk Studios won the prestigious Gold Pirelli International Multimedia Environmental Education Award. The Pirelli Award was received for Earthtalk Studios’ interactive educational CD-ROM Global City, developed for Prentice Hall.

A singer/songwriter for much of his life, in 2004, with his band Stone Poetry, Smith released their folk/rock album Into the Great Unknown, a musical journey through the untamed frontier of the early nineteenth century.

Smith launched ooLite Media LLC in 2010 as an independent media development company specializing in web development and science documentary filmmaking.

Smith recently finished his film Les Davis: Search for the First Montanans and is currently working on films about Yellowstone geology and early western history.

He is currently the Webmaster for the Montana Archaeological Society.