Professor Tim Smith is the Dean of the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design at Lincoln University, Aotearoa New Zealand. He is also an Emeritus Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, where he held various senior leadership and research roles including Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Business and Law; inaugural Director of the Sustainability Research Centre; and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. He also holds adjunct and affiliated Professor positions at Brock University (Canada) and Uppsala University (Sweden). Apart from other academic appointments, he has worked for the CSIRO, private industry, and government.
Tim is a human geographer with expertise in coastal management, water security, and climate change adaptation. His research is particularly focused on vulnerability and adaptation. The outcomes of his research support the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in multiple countries. He was awarded an Australian Museum Eureka Prize for his work on innovative solutions to climate change and was appointed a Fellow of the Institute of Australian Geographers for his contributions to geography. He is also a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has delivered over 20 keynote or invited addresses in over 10 countries, and his research has been featured by the NY Times, Washington Post and the BBC.
Tim is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and has served on non-profit boards such as the UNESCO Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation, and was a member of the Funds Committee of Surfrider Foundation Australia for over a decade. He has provided expert input to numerous organisations internationally such as for UNEP and GIZ. He has been an invited expert reviewer or panel member for various international funding bodies in the UK, USA, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, Indonesia and India, and for initiatives such as the Belmont Forum and G8 Research Councils Initiative on Multilateral Research Funding. He was formerly the co-Chair of Future Earth Australia and a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts. He is currently co-Chair of Future Earth Coasts, on the Editorial Board of Geographical Research (Wiley), and the Executive Editor of Ocean & Coastal Management (Elsevier).
