Barry Smit

Last updated
Professor
Barry Smit
Born
Barry Edward Smit

24 September 1948
Auckland, New Zealand
Citizenship
  • New Zealand
  • Canada
Title Professor Emeritus (Guelph)
Awards Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
Academic work
Institutions University of Guelph

Barry Edward Smit is a Canadian geographer who served as the Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change. [1] His research focuses are largely on the interactions of agriculture and irrigation on the climate, [2] as well as climate change adaptation, especially in arctic regions. [3] [4] He has been described by the Toronto Star as a "top scientist" [5] [6] and additionally by the Government of Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSRC) as "a pioneer and world leader in research on the human impacts of climate change". [7]

Smit is a Professor Emeritus at University of Guelph, Department of Geography. [8] Smit's awards and honors including being inducted into both the Order of Ontario and the Royal Society of Canada, winning a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, a Scholarly Distinction Award in Geography from the Canadian Association of Geographers, and the SSRC Gold Medal. [7] Smit was also a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his involvement with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [9] [10]

In 2015, he appeared on The Agenda to describe the changing climate's effects on wine viticulture in Canada. [11] He was also a scientist featured on CBC Radio's Quirks & Quarks . [12]

Dr. Barry Smit was appointed to the Order of Canada for his contributions to understanding of climate change and for his mentorship of the next generation of climate change scientists. Smit was one of the first researchers in 1980 to study the effects of climate change.

His research has additionally been applied to study water resources in Chile. [13]

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References

  1. Dunne, Doré (Feb 19, 2007). "Riding the winds of change" (Press release). Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council via EurekAlert!.
  2. Johnston, Tom (1993). "Environmental Change and Farm-level Response: Research Planned" (PDF). Western Division, Canadian Association of Geographers (Newsletter): 1.
  3. "Barry Smit • University of Guelph Media Guide". University of Guelph . Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  4. "Barry Smit". ARCUS. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  5. Talaga, Tanya (2010-02-22). "Top scientists urge climate change action plan". Toronto Star . Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  6. Talaga, Tanya (2010-02-23). "Adapt now to climate change, panel warns". Toronto Star . Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  7. 1 2 "Gold Medal Winner". Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council . Government of Canada. 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  8. "Emeritus Prof Named to Royal Society". U of G News. 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  9. "We Teach Ontario's Barry Smit named to Ontario's highest honour". OCUFA . February 5, 2013.
  10. "Should we leave, fall asleep or do something?". University of Helsinki . Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  11. Barry Smit: The Changing Wine World. The Agenda. Oct 27, 2015 via YouTube.
  12. McDonald, Bob (October 2015). "Quirks & Quarks 40th Anniversary Special". CBC Radio .
  13. "Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary, Too Much of a Good Thing". Tiempo. Stockholm Environment Institute . Retrieved 2023-04-29.