Mark Stafford Smith has worked in desert areas around the world since 1975 and in Australian rangelands since 1980. He is a systems ecologist with a particular interest in arid social-ecological systems. He joined CSIRO in Alice Springs in 1984, and led CSIRO’s Centre for Arid Zone Research in the late 1990s. He then became the first CEO of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, a partnership among 28 organisations that he was instrumental in establishing in 2002. He was an inaugural winner of the Northern Territory Research and Innovation Awards in 2005 for his contribution to desert knowledge. His contribution is summarised in his 2009 book with Julian Cribb, Dry Times: a Blueprint for a Red Land, which describes how desert dwellers deal with uncertainty, scarce resources and remoteness, and explains what this can teach a world facing climate change. Mark continues to play a role in global environmental change and desertification; recently co-chairing the major Planet Under Pressure: New Knowledge towards Solutions conference in London in the lead-up to the Rio+20 summit.
The lightly inhabited remote rangelands are the quintessential imagery of Australian advertising. When compared to their population, these lands are a disproportionate source of the country’s wealth, particularly through mining and tourism, and a source of the country's angst in the form of land degradation, species loss and social troubles. Ecologically, they are dominated by poor soils and a highly variable climate. These conditions have been well managed for grazing purposes, but not so well managed when variability affects managing businesses, settlements, service delivery and governance processes. How should we manage a variable natural and social environment? What implications does this have for our nation? And what opportunities could there be to apply this knowledge to the benefit of the rest of the world?
Event Manager: Mitchell Piercey
Phone: (02) 6201 9462
Mark Stafford Smith has worked in desert areas around the world since 1975 and in Australian rangelands since 1980. He is a systems ecologist with a particular interest in arid social-ecological systems. He joined CSIRO in Alice Springs in 1984, and led CSIRO’s Centre for Arid Zone Research in the late 1990s. He then became the first CEO of the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, a partnership among 28 organisations that he was instrumental in establishing in 2002. He was an inaugural winner of the Northern Territory Research and Innovation Awards in 2005 for his contribution to desert knowledge. His contribution is summarised in his 2009 book with Julian Cribb, Dry Times: a Blueprint for a Red Land, which describes how desert dwellers deal with uncertainty, scarce resources and remoteness, and explains what this can teach a world facing climate change. Mark continues to play a role in global environmental change and desertification; recently co-chairing the major Planet Under Pressure: New Knowledge towards Solutions conference in London in the lead-up to the Rio+20 summit.
The lightly inhabited remote rangelands are the quintessential imagery of Australian advertising. When compared to their population, these lands are a disproportionate source of the country’s wealth, particularly through mining and tourism, and a source of the country's angst in the form of land degradation, species loss and social troubles. Ecologically, they are dominated by poor soils and a highly variable climate. These conditions have been well managed for grazing purposes, but not so well managed when variability affects managing businesses, settlements, service delivery and governance processes. How should we manage a variable natural and social environment? What implications does this have for our nation? And what opportunities could there be to apply this knowledge to the benefit of the rest of the world?
Shine Dome,9 Gordon Street Australian Capital Territory false DD/MM/YYYYEvent Manager: Mitchell Piercey
Phone: (02) 6201 9462
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