The L.I. Smith & Associates (LIS) Staff Photo Competition is a unique opportunity for staff members to share the interesting, behind the scenes aspects of their roles, while also getting creative! Our workforce is comprised of professional surveyors, field crews, professional engineers, and administrative personnel. Our field personnel travel throughout the Central and Southeast regions of the country, while our office staff commute to three separate office locations. Each staff member’s role is different. No two workdays are alike. 

In order to showcase the unique experiences of our staff, we challenged them to submit images that reflect their day in the workplace- wherever that may be. 

Each month, one photo is chosen as the winner. Additional photo(s) are also highlighted as honorable mentions. A grand prize winner will be selected at the end of the year. This month’s winning image and honorable mentions are featured below along with submission descriptions and the photographer’s name. Congratulations to all of our staff members for their incredible, creative images.

L.I. Smith & Associates (LIS) welcomes two students from the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM) as interns for the summer term. The students will learn from experienced industry professionals while gaining hands-on experience in their chosen fields of study.

Professional Land Surveyor, Mason Peale (UTM ‘16) and Marketing Coordinator Ashley Horn (UTM ’16, ’18) will serve as staff mentors in the internship program.

“We are proud to have the opportunity to offer paid summer internships at our Paris office. Our summer interns are current students at UT Martin and have impressive resumes,” stated Marketing Coordinator Ashley Horn. “With several UTM alumni on staff, we are eager to, both, provide a learning opportunity for students and to discover the unique skillset each student will bring to our team.”

Students were hired for two positions, the Land Surveying Intern and Marketing and Communications Intern, both of whom will work from the LIS headquarters in Paris, Tenn.

UTM Sophomore Nikolas Heath was selected as the Land Surveying Intern. Heath is a McKenzie, Tenn. native, majoring in agriculture with an emphasis in engineering technology. In his role, Heath will spend most of his time working on survey crews to become more familiar with survey equipment, data collection procedures, and various types of survey projects. He will also gain experience in AutoCAD drafting.

Mass Media and Strategic Communication student, Martha Jane (MJ) Hooper, will take on the role of Marketing and Communications Intern. Hooper is a rising junior and an active member of Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA) and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). As the Marketing and Communications Intern, she will work to enhance the LIS brand through the development of innovative concepts and design.

 “The Department of Mass Media and Strategic Communication is delighted to partner with L.I. Smith to provide this internship opportunity. We have always prided ourselves in preparing our majors for the types of professional positions they will be assuming, and I am especially excited about the broad range of PR and marketing projects our student will be completing this summer with LIS,” stated UTM Professor and Internship Coordinator for the Department of Mass Media and Strategic Communication, Jerald Ogg Jr., J.D., Ph.D. on behalf of intern MJ Hooper.

The LIS student internship program was launched in the fall of 2021, with this year’s group of interns spearheading the program. The internships are geared specifically towards students studying in civil engineering, surveying, communications, or marketing fields, allowing students to grow their talents in their chosen majors. The internships are paid positions, but also provide the option for students to receive college credit upon completion.

For more information about the LIS internship program, contact Ashley Horn at ahorn@lismith.com.