Dr Chris J Smith portrait photograph.

Dr Chris Smith: improving rural and agricultural systems.

Dr Chris Smith: Deputy Chief of Land and Water division

Dr Smith is a well-respected soil chemist with a significant national and international profile in water and nitrogen cycling in agricultural and natural ecosystems.

  • 3 August 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

Current activities

Dr Chris J Smith is Deputy Chief of CSIRO's Land and Water division. Prior to this he was Research Director of Agriculture, Water and Environment and Water Resources research programs. He concurrently holds a professorial position at Charles Sturt University with the International Centre of Water. 

Dr Smith has more that 30 years of research experience in research and its management. Research topics of special interest have included:

  • Water and nitrogen use of dryland farming system, and the design of sustainable systems that have reduced environmental impact.
  • Impact of climate variability and change on water productivity and agricultural water management.
  • Expertise in soil chemistry and plant nutrition.
  • Reuse of nutrient-rich wastes, and the impact of reuse of waste streams on the environment.
  • Water and nutrient use of irrigated crops.
  • Nitrate leaching, nitrogen loss and plant nitrogen uptake under irrigated and dryland farming systems.
  • Water use of native forests.

Background

Dr Smith is a soil chemist with a significant national and international profile in water and nitrogen cycling in ecosystems.

Dr Smith has research experience in soil chemistry and biochemistry.

He has specific experience in the areas of:

  • nitrogen cycling
  • nitrogen fixation
  • ammonia
  • nitrous oxide and methane emissions
  • the use of stable isotopes for measuring reactions
  • transport and transformations of nitrogen in the environment
  • water productivity and nutrient balances of a variety dryland and irrigated agricultural systems. 

Academic qualifications

Dr Smith has been awarded a:

  • Bachelor of Agricultural Science with First Class Honours from The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in 1974
  • PhD (Soil Science), also at The University of Melbourne in 1979.

Achievements

Dr Chris J Smith is author or co-author of more than 170 papers, articles and reports. During the last decade, his expertise has been applied to defining the attributes of future land-use systems, and designing them to be more sustainable.

He has a career citations of more than 1635, with 17 papers each exceeding 20 citations, and with 27 papers receiving between 10 and 20 citations.

Dr Smith's awards include: 

  • BHP Landcare Research Award for NSW, for the Wagga Wagga Effluent Plantation Project, awarded in 1995
  • John K. Taylor, OBE, Gold Medal for Excellence in both Research and its Communication in Soil Science, awarded in 1996
  • CSIRO Chairman’s Medal – Wagga Wagga Effluent Plantation Project team, awarded in 1999
  • CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement – Irrigation System Project team, awarded in 2007. 

Professional activities

Dr Smith is a member of the:

  • American Society of Agronomy
  • Australian Society of Soil Science
  • International Union of Soil Science and co chair of Division 2 Soil Properties and Processes for the 19th World Congress of Soil Science.

Find out more about CSIRO Land and Water.