We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. We also embed content from third parties, including social media websites, which may include cookies. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on our cookies page.
If you're happy to accept these cookies, simply continue browsing.
The University of Aberdeen
Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences School of Biological Sciences University of Aberdeen 23 St Machar Drive (Room G45) Aberdeen, AB24 3UU Scotland, UK
Biography
After obtaining a PhD in 1991, Pete Smith worked as a Higher- then Senior-Scientific Officer at the MAFF Central Science Laboratory until 1994. He then worked as a Band 6 and Band 5 Senior Research Scientist at Rothamsted Research before joining the University of Aberdeen as a Senior Lecturer in 2001.
He became a Reader in 2003, and Professor of Soils & Global Change in 2005. His main areas of expertise are in modelling greenhouse gas / carbon mitigation, bioenergy, biological carbon sequestration, global food systems modelling and greenhouse gas removal technologies.
He is co-leader with Prof Jo Smith of the Environmental Modelling Group (2 Academic staff, 2 Senior Research Fellows, 15 Post-docs, 12 PhDs). He is also Science Director of Scotland's Climate Change Centre of Expertise (www.climatexchange.org.uk), and was Director of Food Systems of the Scottish Food Security Alliance-Crops (www.sfsa-crops.org), and Theme Leader of the University-wide theme, Environment and Food Security (www.abdn.ac.uk/environment-food-security/), until 2015. He is editor for Global Change Biology and Global Change Biology Bioenergy.
He was a Royal Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award holder (2008-2013), Royal Society Research Fellow (2008-2013), and is a Fellow of the Society of Biology (FSB; elected 2008), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE; elected 2009), a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Acedemy (FNA; elected 2017); a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc; elected 2018) and a Fellow of the Royal Society (London; elected 2017).
Science Director of Scotland’s Climate Change Centre of Expertise (2011-present)
Director-Food Systems of the Scottish Food Security Alliance – Crops (2013-2016)
Theme Leader of cross-University theme on Environment & Food Security (2012-2015)
Member of Science and Technical Committee for the International 4per1000 initiative (2016-2018)
Member of Science Advisory Board to UK Global Food Security programme (2016-present)
Convening Lead Author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Claimet Change and Land (2016-2019)
Convening Lead Author for Agriculture and Forestry Chapter of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report, Mitigation volume (2010-2014)
Convening Lead Author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, Mitigation volume, Chapter 8 Agriculture (2004-2007)
Lead Author for Cross Sectoral Perspectives Chapter of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, Mitigation volume (2018-present)
Lead Author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Good Practice Guidelines 2006 (2004-2006)
Convening Lead Author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Good Practice Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Inventories for Land-Use, Land-Use Change & Forestry (2002-2004).
Convening Lead Author for UN-FAO Status of World Soil Resources Report (2014-2015)
Scientific Steering Group member of International Soil Carbon Network (2013-present)
Member of DfID’s Research Advisory Group (2017-present)
Member of Defra’s Science Advisory Council (2011-2013)
Science Leader (and management committee member) for the UK community land surface model of the UK global climate model: JULES (soil C & N component) (2007-2014).
Expert Advisor on bioenergy issues to UK Committee on Climate Change (2011)
UK National Ecosystem Assessment Expert Group Member (2009-2011)
Coordinating Lead Author for UK National Ecosystem Assessment Chapter on Regulating Services (2009-2011).
UK Foresight Project on Global Food and Farming Futures, Expert Review Leader on Competition for Land (2009-2010).
Member of Programme Development Group for the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (2008-2013).
New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre’s International Science Advisory Group (ISAG) (2010-present).
Royal Society of Edinburgh Convener for the Organismal and Environmental Biology sectional committee (A3) (2011-2013)
Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship Committee Member (2009-2013)
Royal Society of Edinburgh BP Fellowship Committee Member (2010-present)
Steering Committee Member of European Union – Framework V/VI CarboEurope Consortium (2002-2003)
Lead Author for the IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (published in 2000)
Member of IPCC/OECD Working Group on the IPCC Revised Guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories (1996)
Chair of Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE)’s Global Soil Organic Matter Network (SOMNET) (1996-2002)
Co-leader of GCTE's research focus on Soil Organic Matter (1996-2000)
Professorial selection committee for Danish Institute of Ag. Sciences (2002-2003)
NERC/BBSRC Soil Science Advisory Committee member (2003-2008)
Member of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program (IGBP) Global Carbon Cycle Project (1998-present).
Chair and Convenor of EU-Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Initiative (TERI) Workgroup 8 on Policy Conflicts in Terrestrial Ecosystems Research (1999)
Management Committee of EU-COST Action 627 “Carbon Storage in Grasslands” (2000-2006)
Workgroup 3 (modelling) Chair of EU-COST Action 627 “Carbon Storage in Grasslands” (2000-2006)
European Climate Change Programme Working Group Agriculture (WG7) member (2001)
European Climate Change Programme Working Group “Soil Carbon Sinks” (WG7a) member (2002)
European Climate Change Programme Working Group Research (WG6) member (2001)
Member of Scientific Organising Committee of European Society of Agronomy (ESA) annual modelling symposia 1999 and 2001
International Review Panel member of Australian Greenhouse Office National Carbon Accounting System (1999-2001)
International Scientific Steering Committee member of the Federal US-funded multi-institutional project on carbon sequestration in US agriculture, CASMGS (2001-2005).
Steering Committee of International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development-International Policy Council Platform on Climate Change, Agriculture and Trade (2009-2010)
UK Co Chair of Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Working Group of UK-China Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network (2009-2013).
Associate Editor for the Journal of Environmental Quality (1997-2003)
Editorial Board Member of Acta Agronomica Hungarica (1998-present)
Editorial Board Member of International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability (2006–present)
Editorial Board Member of Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2006-2015).
Editorial Board Member of Greenhouse Gas Management & Measurement (2010-present).
Editorial Board Member of Journal of Subtropical Resources and Environment (2006-present)
Editorial Board Member of Pedosphere (2014-present)
Editorial Board of Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (2015-present)
Editorial Board of Land Degradation and Development (2016-2017)
Editorial Board of Current Research in Environmental Sustainability (2019-present)
Editor of Global Change Biology (2007-present)
Editor of Global Change Biology Bioenergy (2009-present)
Subject Editor (Ecology, Conservation and Global Change Biology) of Royal Society Open Science (2019-present).
Global change impacts on ecosystems, soils, agricultural and land based options to mitigate climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, environmental and agricultural sustainability, global carbon cycle, ecosystem modelling, food security, ecosystem services, bioenergy (including BECCS)
Current Research
Numerous projects on the above areas funded mainly by the research councils and the EU
Collaborations
Numerous - all over the world
Research Funding and Grants
Funding during last 10 years
Title
Funding body
Dates
Partner share (£)
Are tropical uplands regional hotspots for methane and nitrous oxide?
NERC
01/03/10-28/02/13
358,391
Estimates of future agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation in China
Defra/DfID
01/11/09-30/10/12
425,569
GHG Europe
EU
01/01/10-30/09/13
324,687
Provide a Quantitative Estimate of and Review the Contribution of Priority Habitats to Mitigation of Climate Change
Defra
01/01/10-30/03/11
42,140
Spatial mapping and evaluation of energy crop distribution in GB to 2050
NERC/UKERC
01/04/10-30/10/11
110,179
GACA
Unilever
01/04/10-30/04/11
21,104
CARBONES
EU
01/05/10-30/04/13
87,273
Review of GHG emissions from agriculture
Unilever
01/05/10-31/05/10
3,783
Policy options for LULUCF in Europe
EU
10/11/09-09/11/10
8,244
GHG emissions from agriculture
Princeton / HP Foundation
01/05/10-30/08/10
6,667
Accounting for the GHG impacts of LULUC due to biobased ingredients
Unilever
22/08/10-31/03/11
47,336
Interaction between C, N and water in UK soils (Homan Wong's PhD)
NERC
01/04/10-30/09/13
75,000
UK NEA Coordinating Lead Author fund
UNEP
01/07/10-31/03/10
10,000
Scoping study SP1105-populating the land use cmponent of the LULUCF GHG Inventory
Defra/NERC
01/07/10-02/03/10
32,653
India Partnering award
BBSRC
01/05/10-30/04/14
24,476
GHG mitigation from Chinese agriculture
NERC
01/07/10-31/11/10
6,352
Development of an assessment on GHG emissions from the agricultural sector
FAO
24/08/10-23/11/10
7,700
Jenny Farmer PhD project
CLSM/Macaulay
01/09/09-30/08/12
3,000
Cool livestock farming in Europe
Greenpeace International
01/11/10-30/04/11
4,315
Jon Hillier KET Award
University of Aberdeen
12/12/10-30/07/10
12,175
InveN2Ory
Defra
01/12/10-31/03/15
694,858
Data management and modelling for the agricultural GHG inventory
Defra
01/12/10-31/03/15
60,000
Andy Robertson PhD
Shell/CEH
01/02/11-31/01/14
48,000
Centre of Expertise on Climate Change - Mitigation
Scottish Government
01/04/11-31/03/14
522,270
Committee on Climate Change - Bioenergy Expert
CCC
01/04/11-31/12/11
6,674
ELUM
ETI
01/06/11-31/04/14
599,800
Centre of Expertise on Climate Change - Directorate
Scottish Government
01/04/11-31/03/16
210,000
RSE International Exchange Programme India
Royal Society of Edinburgh
19/09/11-16/10/11
2,100
SmartSoil
EU
01/11/11-30/07/15
299,540
Iniobong Essiet PhD College funding
CLSM
01/10/11-30/09/14
9,000
IPCC CLA Support
DECC
01/04/11-31/03/14
30,000
Impact on global ecosystem services of UK energy supply
UKERC
01/01/12-31/03/14
300,000
SEER
ESRC
01/03/12-31/12/12
43,619
RSE International Exchange Programme (Rafaele Casa)
Royal Society of Edinburgh
02/06/12-23/06/12
1,813
Saana Tykka's PhD fund
James Hutton Institute
01/10/12-31/03/16
42,000
Permafrost catchments in transition: hydrological controls on carbon cycling and greenhouse gas budgets
NERC
01/10/12-31/09/16
273,875
FACCE-JPI MACSUR Cropland Hub
BBSRC
01/08/12-31/07/15
64,734
EFS Theme Budget
University of Aberdeen
01/09/12-31/08/13
30,000
Saana Tykka - 51232501 -RTSG PhD funding
University of Aberdeen
01/09/12-31/03/16
3,000
Joseph Oyesiku-Blakemore - 51233548-RTSG PhD funding
University of Aberdeen
01/09/12-31/03/16
3,000
GREENHOUSE
NERC
01/04/13-31/03/17
211,388
Pete Smith secondment to the JHI (10%)
James Hutton Institute
01/08/12-31/03/16
61,070
The Counterfactual land uses to bioenergy crops (Phase I and II)
DECC
01/12/12-31/01/14
170,000
Capture crop and grassland management impact in UK soil carbon LULUCF Inventory
Defra
22/10/12-28/02/14
98,094
Wales Glastir Axis II Project
Welsh Government
01/05/13-31/08/14
51,823
Khadiza Begum PhD fund
CLSM
01/08/13-30/07/16
3,000
Henri de Ruiter's PhD fund
EFS Theme
01/10/13-31/03/17
17,500
Impacts of sugar cane production in Brazil
BBSRC
31/07/14-30/07/18
48,980
India diet health and environmental impacts
Wellcome Trust
01/11/14-31/10/16
25,146
Scaling soil process modelling to national
Irish EPA
01/01/13-31/12/14
9,633
Dagmar Henner PhD RTSG (CLSM 50%)
Shell/CLSM
01/10/14-31/03/18
1,500
Dagmar Henner PhD RTSG (Shell 50%)
Shell/CLSM
01/10/14-31/03/18
31,759
Renaud Heckle PhD - £1k per year
CLSM
01/10/14-31/03/18
3,000
Laura Philips PhD - £1k per year
CLSM
01/10/14-31/03/18
3,000
MAGLUE
EPSRC
01/01/15-31/12/17
169,299
U-Grass
NERC
01/07/15-30/06/18
259,798
DEVIL
Belmont Forum (via NERC)
01/02/15-31/01/20
399,997
Global N and India Mitigation Strategies Analysis
CIMMYT
01/02/15-31/07/16
193,972
Science based emissions targets for agriculture and forestry commodities
KR Foundation
01/05/2015-31/05/16
216,168
MACSUR2
BBSRC
01/06/15-31/05/17
52,782
ADVENT
NERC
01/07/15-30/06/18
181,712
Amy Molotoks EastBio PhD fund
EastBio
01/10/15-30/04/19
17,500
N-Circle
BBSRC/Newton Fund
01/01/16-31/12/19
2,403,479
CXC-2
Scottish Government
01/04/16-31/02/21
131,968
Including perennial crops in the Cool Farm Tool
NERC
01/04/16-28/02/17
96,532
Developing a Modelling Tool to Assist with Prioritising Investments in Natural Capital
Defra (via University of Exeter)
01/01/17-30/06/17
6,000
Assess-BECCS
UKERC
01/03/17-28/02/19
400,000
Juan Pablo Inamagua RTSG
Uni. Aberdeen
01/08/17-30/07/18
3,000
Soils-R-GRREAT
NERC and others
20/06/17-31/05/21
420,898
SHEFS
Welcome Trust
359,072
BALI project
NERC
01/04/14-31/03/18
209,366
Ziyin (Sally) Shang PhD - £1k per year
SBS/CSC
01/10/17-30/09/21
3,000
Yang Guo PhD - £1k per year
SBS/CSC
01/10/17-30/09/21
3,000
VERIFY
EU
01/02/18-31/01/22
234,614
CIRCASA
EU
01/04/18-31/03/22
123,768
AFRICAP
NERC
01/10/17-31/12/21
383,410
SUPERG
EU
01/06/18-31/05/23
419,702
UNISECO
EU
01/05/18-30/04/21
264,846
BEIS contribution to Pete Smith CLA role
BEIS
01/06/17-30/07/19
20,000
Juan Pablo Inamagua IRSAE travel grant
IRSAE
20/03/18-19/03/19
739
Land Use Modelling Review - Valuing Nature Network
Soil-derived Nature’s Contributions to People and their contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Smith, P., Keesstra, S. D., Silver, W. L., Adhya, T. K., De Deyn, G. B., Carvalheiro, L. G., Giltrap, D., Renforth, P., Cheng, K., Sarkar, B., M. Saco, P., Scow, K., Smith, J., Morel, J., Thiele-Bruhn, S., Lal, R., McElwee, P.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Contributions to Journals: Articles
Comparison of carbon footprint and net ecosystem carbon budget under organic material retention combined with reduced mineral fertilizer
Liu, Y., Tang, H., Smith, P., Zhong, C., Huang, G.
Estimating ammonia emissions from cropland in China based on the establishment of agro-region-specific models
Wu, H., Li, Y., Xie, Z., Sun, J., Smith, P., Cheng, K., Fan, P., Yue, Q., Pan, G.
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
Contributions to Journals: Articles
Ensemble modelling, uncertainty and robust predictions of organic carbon in long-term bare-fallow soils
Farina, R., Sándor, R., Abdalla, M., Álvaro-Fuentes, J., Bechini, L., Bolinder, M. A., Brilli, L., Chenu, C., Clivot, H., De Antoni Migliorati, M., Di Bene, C., Dorich, C. D., Ehrhardt, F., Ferchaud, F., Fitton, N., Francaviglia, R., Franko, U., Giltrap, D., Grant, B. B., Guenet, B., Harrison, M. T., Kirschbaum, M. U. F., Kuka, K., Kulmala, L., Liski, J., McGrath, M. J., Meier, E., Menichetti, L., Moyano, F., Nendel, C., Recous, S., Reibold, N., Shepherd, A., Smith, W. N., Smith, P., Soussana, J., Stella, T., Taghizadeh-Toosi, A., Tsutskikh, E., Bellocchi, G.
Global Change Biology, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 904-928