On the one hand, her academic work aimed to firmly establish "Gender and Science" in the academic landscape. Her scientific projects emphasised gender research in biological contexts. She dealt with the interweaving of zoological and botanical knowledge production with socio-cultural notions of gender and the reflection of gender relations in zoological and botanical systematics.

Dr Smilla Ebeling worked on the re-profiling of women's and gender studies in the area of study programme development. To this end, she was involved in a working group consisting of members of the ZFG and the ZGS, University of Bremen, which designed a concept for a joint degree programme in Gender Studies in the Bachelor's system and was involved in its introduction and establishment in the winter semester 2007/08. Until the end of 2008, she was a member of the Gender Studies programme committee, at times in the role of Chair. JP Dr Smilla Ebeling was involved in teaching both the MA minor in Women's and Gender Studies and the BA Gender Studies with four semester hours per week each until the winter semester 2009/10. She regularly offered lectures on the basics of gender studies and organised seminars based on her research focus: e.g. "Tierisch Menschlich. Gender in Human-Animal Relationships", "Gender Politics in Zoos and Museums", "Gender Politics in Zoological Gardens and Natural History Museums" etc. Her commitment to research-oriented teaching and the promotion of young academics has been recognised by the university. In December 2006, she won the Teaching Prize (1st place) for the 2005/2006 academic year at the University of Oldenburg.

In addition, JP Dr Smilla Ebeling successfully campaigned for a differentiation of the study focus on gender and natural sciences in the BA Gender Studies by recruiting guest researchers as part of the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Programme. Due to her intensive international cooperation relationships and binding networking contacts in the "Gender and Science" specialist community, she was able to appoint Prof. Dr Londa Schiebinger, Stanfort University, USA for the 2006/07 winter semester, Prof. Dr Bonnie Spanier, University at Albany (New York, USA) for the 2007 summer semester, Dr Helene Götschel for the 2007/08 winter semester and HD. Dr Sigrid Schmitz as visiting professors at the ZFG.

In addition to her research and teaching activities, JP Dr Smilla Ebeling was involved in numerous committees at the ZFG and the Carl von Ossietzky University: member of the ZFG's Centre Council until September 2009, deputy director from 2006 to 2008, member of the editorial group of the publication series "Studien interdisziplinäre Geschlechterforschung" until the end of 2010, member of the "Kommission für Frauenförderung und Gleichstellung (KFG)" until the end of 2008. She maintained intensive co-operation with the "Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Einrichtungen der Geschlechterforschung in Niedersachsen (LAGEN)", the "Konferenz der Einrichtungen für Frauen- und Geschlechterstudien im deutschsprachigen Raum/KEG" and the "Fachgesellschaft Geschlechterstudien/Gender Studies Association". It was actively represented in all of these organisations and successfully represented the positions and interests of the ZFG. Despite intensive efforts and negotiations, the junior professorship could not be made permanent and JP Dr Smilla Ebeling left the ZFG in September 2009. It is thanks to her scientific expertise that "Gender and Science" was sustainably anchored as an innovative perspective in research and teaching at the ZFG between 2003 and 2009 and that internationally renowned female scientists worked at the ZFG as part of the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Programme.