Associate Professor Tim Smith
PhD NSW, GradCert (Higher Ed) Griff., BAppSc (Hons) S.Cross
Position: Research Coordinator, Faculty of Science, Health and Education and Director, Regional Sustainability Research Group
Office: I2.07A
Tel: +61 7 5456 5042
Fax: +61 7 5430 2887
Email: Tim.Smith@usc.edu.au
Teaching areas
Research areas
- Sustainability science
- Community engagement
- Institutional arrangements
- Adaptive capacity
- Coastal management
- Social learning
Profile
Associate Professor Tim Smith PhD is the Director of the Regional Sustainability Research Group and the Research Coordinator for the Faculty of Science, Health and Education at USC. He is also an adjunct Associate Professor with the School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, University of Queensland. Prior to his appointment with USC, Dr Smith was a senior research scientist with the Resource Futures Program of CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems. Dr Smith has also led the social science research and education portfolios of two national research centres, Coastal Cooperative Research Centre and Catchment Hydrology Cooperative Research Centre.
In addition to several academic appointments (eg University of New South Wales and Griffith University), Dr Smith has worked in local government (Waterways Manager for Manly Council), state government (manager of the stressed rivers assessment as part of the NSW Water Reforms, NSW DLWC), and private industry (environmental scientist for Patterson Britton & Partners, and as a founding partner of Total Stormwater Solutions).
Dr Smith has led numerous projects relating to sustainability and has authored or co-authored numerous publications in this area, including the book 'Australian Estuaries: A Framework for Management' released in 2001. Dr Smith has given keynote addresses or invited seminars in Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Fiji and the United States.
Dr Smith was recently the lead guest editor for a special issue of the international journal 'Coastal Management', on the outcomes of the 2nd Coastal Zone Asia Pacific Conference, which he co-chaired in September 2004.
Publications
Electronic copies of various academic papers from Associate Professor Tim Smith are available on the USC Coast Research Database website.
Current research
Systems approach to regional climate change adaptation strategies in metropolises, Smith TF #, Withycombe G §, Gorddard R *, Brooke C *, Preston B *, Abbs D *, McInnes K *, Morrison C §, Beveridge B §, funded by the Australian Greenhouse Office, 2006-2008.
The aim of the project is to develop and trial a method for a systems approach to regional climate change adaptation strategies in large urban areas. The project aim directly addresses Australian Greenhouse Office priorities through:
- developing and testing an integrated (systems) method to generate information about the likely impacts of climate change and feasible adaptation strategies in the Sydney region
- deepening the understanding of the likely impacts of climate change and resulting adaptation options in the Sydney region through integration of existing models, vulnerability mapping, and an analysis of adaptive capacity
- assessing the transferability of the integrated (systems) method to other large urban areas, with transfer to be facilitated through the project National Reference Group
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