Ben Smith's CV

Current position

Director of Research, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
Contact details

Visiting Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lund University, Sweden.
Contact details

Professional experience

2019-present Director of Research, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
2018 Head of Department, Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Sweden.
2014, 2017 OCE Distinguished Visiting Scientist, CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere Flagship, Canberra, Australia.
2014-2018 Science Steering Group Member, Baltic Earth.
2012-2013 Frohlich Visiting Fellow, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Canberra, Australia.
2011-present Professor, Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University.
2011-2018 Board Member, Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) Sweden.
2006-2013 Scientific Steering Committee Member, WCRP-affiliated research network BALTEX.
2003-2010 Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer, Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystems Analysis, Lund University.
2003-2007 Special Research Fellowship, Climate change interactions with the biosphere, Swedish Research Council FORMAS.
2002 Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystems Analysis, Lund University.
2001 Assistant Professor, Plant Ecology Department, Lund University.
1998-2000 Postdoctoral Fellow, Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany.
1996-1997 Assistant Professor, Plant Ecology Department, Lund University.

Degrees

  • Bachelor of Science, University of Tasmania, 1991.
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Science (Botany), University of Otago, 1991.
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Otago, 1996.

Honours and prizes

Fellow of the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, elected 2014.
Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher, 2019-2021.

Research students

PhD students, current
  • Kalhari Gunarathna (started 2025). Belowground mechanistic response to elevated carbon dioxide and phosphorus enrichment in a phosphorus-limited forest.
  • Krish Singh (started 2025, cosupervisor). Data assimilation for forecasting future carbon storage in NSW forests and woodlands’
  • Aaron Midson (started 2024). Modelling climate-related snow gum dieback, management and recovery.
  • Erick Calderon-Morales (started 2023, cosupervisor). How fast do trees dry out? Mechanistic understanding of tree mortality during the Tinderbox drought.
  • Neelima Raghuvanshi (started 2023, cosupervisor). The interaction of P availability and CO2 enhancement on tree physiology and growth in a Eucalyptus forest.
  • Sonam Dhargay (started 2023, cosupervisor). The future of Australian vegetation: developing a dynamic vegetation model for Australia.
  • Amy Smart (started 2022, cosupervisor). Sensitivity of Gondwanan Rainforest recovery to drought and fire.
PhD students, former
  • Nuwanthi Arampola (graduated 2026). Identifying drivers and mechanisms of climate-related tree mortality.
  • Prashant Paudel (graduated 2026). Improved modelling of plant competition through traits.
  • Klaske van Wijngaarden (graduated 2025). From branch to forest to globe: how does elevated CO2 affect wood growth and turnover?
  • Min Zhao (graduated 2025, cosupervisor). Assessing Eucalyptus forest responses to rising CO2 and climate change.
  • Adrian Gustafson (graduated 2022, cosupervisor). On the role of terrestrial ecosystems in a changing Arctic.
  • Jeppe Ågård Kristensen (graduated 2019, cosupervisor). Biogeochemistry in Subarctic birch forests: Perspectives on insect herbivory
  • Wilhelm Dubber (graduated 2018, cosupervisor). Natural and social dimensions of carbon accounting.
  • Nitin Chaudhary (graduated 2017). Peatland dynamics in response to past and potential future climate change.
  • Wenxin Zhang (graduated 2015, cosupervisor). The role of biogeophysical feedbacks and their impacts in the arctic and boreal climate system.
  • Lovisa Solbär (graduated 2014, cosupervisor). Anthropogenic open land in boreal landscapes.
  • Anders Ahlström (graduated 2013). Terrestrial ecosystem interactions with global climate and socio-economics.
  • David Wårlind (graduated 2013, cosupervisor). The role of carbon-nitrogen interactions for terrestrial ecosystem dynamics under global change.
  • Anna Wramneby (graduated 2010). The role of vegetation-climate feedbacks in regional Earth system dynamics.
  • Torbern Tagesson (graduated 2010, cosupervisor). Land-atmosphere exchange of carbon in a high-Arctic wet tundra ecosystem.
  • Deniz Koca (graduated 2006, cosupervisor). Impacts of regional climate change on Swedish forests.
  • Emmanuel Gritti (graduated 2006, cosupervisor). Global changes and European terrestrial ecosystems.
  • Pablo Morales (graduated 2006, cosupervisor). Modelling carbon and water fluxes in European terrestrial ecosystems.
  • Thomas Hickler (graduated 2004, cosupervisor). Towards an integrated ecology through mechanistic modelling of ecosystem structure and functioning.

Research projects, current

  • Warming-Induced Greenhouse Gas Emissions Model Intercomparison Project (WIE-MIP). Spark Climate Solutions, 2026-2027.
  • Magnitude of the CO2 fertilization effect in tropical forests and boreal peatlands: Observations and modelling. Swedish Research Council, 2025-2029.
  • Quantifying the impacts of future climate change on vegetation-based sequestration, Green Collar Group, 2024-2026.
  • Detecting forest metabolic shifts over the past century: implications for the land carbon sink, Swedish Research Council FORMAS, 2024-2026.
  • Observation of Ecosystem Changes for Action (OBSGESSION), European Union Horizon, 2024-2027.
  • New South Wales Bushfire and Natural Hazards Research Centre, New South Wales Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, 2023-2027.
  • Mechanistic responses of phosphorus limited forests to CO2 enrichment, Australian Research Council Discovery, 2022-2026.
  • New South Wales Decarbonisation Innovation Hub, NSW Environmental Trust, 2022-2030.
  • Understanding snow gum dieback for effective and integrated management, Australian Research Council Linkage, 2022-2027.
  • Understanding the survival of forests under drought, Australian Research Council Discovery, 2022-2026.
  • Phosphorus cycle interactions with elevated carbon dioxide in mature forest ecosystems: stand to globe, Swedish Research Council, 2021-2026.

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