Congratulations to Dr Mark Stafford Smith who is the recipient of a CSIRO Medal of Lifetime Achievement for 2017. The Award recognises his more than 30 years of international leadership in sustainability science that has informed policy and management of human ecosystems under global change and uncertainty.
Mark has recently retired as the Science Director of CSIRO’s Climate Adaptation Flagship in Australia. In this role he has been oversighting a highly interdisciplinary program of research on many aspects of adapting to climate change, as well as regularly interacting with national and international policy issues.
He has over 30 years’ experience in drylands systems ecology, management and policy, including senior roles such as CEO of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, before taking this experience more recently to focus on adaptation to climate change. His significant international roles include being past vice-chair of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program’s Scientific Committee, and co-chairing 2012′s major Planet Under Pressure: New Knowledge towards Solutions conference.
In 2013 he was appointed chair of the inaugural Science Committee of the Future Earth platform for coordinating research on global environmental change. He continues to publish actively, adding to over 160 peer-reviewed contributions to science, as well as many presentations and publications for less-specialised audiences. We are fortunate that Mark will not be relaxing in his retirement, but will continue to contribute in many areas as a Research Fellow of CSIRO.
Mark is a long-standing member of the Australian Rangeland Society and has been involved in many of the Society’s activities, including organising and presenting at ARS Biennial Conferences, supporting The Rangeland Journal as an Associate Editor, and developing rangeland policies. He is currently leading the team that is organising the next ARS Biennial Conference, to be held in Canberra in September 2018.
Congratulations Mark on your well-earned Award from all your friends and colleagues in the ARS!
Further information:
https://www.csiro.au/en/News/News-releases/2017/Top-awards-for-CSIRO-innovation-in-2017