Barbara Smith

Profession

Lecturer in Ecology, MA Regenerative Design

College

Central Saint Martins

Person Type

Teacher

Biography

I began my research career as a botanist interested in restoration ecology; for my PhD I worked with industry to develop restoration techniques in former quarries off the Dorset coast. My work then broadened to include wider ecological interactions. Working in farm settings I explored how to restore biodiversity, particularly the networks of plants and insects that are key to ecosystem health. In 2012 I expanded my geographical interest from primarily European landscapes to include India and Sub-Saharan Africa. I co-founded the Centre for Pollination Studies at the University of Calcutta in 2012, which works closely with farmers, NGOs and academics from around the globe to identify solutions to problems identified by farmers. This inclusive approach to research is important, and in 2020 I established the Thriving Hive research programme, working with beekeepers to investigate the impact of air pollution on bee health. Along with my PhD students and collaborators my current work spans ecological field trials to radically re-imagining how we could redesign cities.

With twenty years’ experience in applied ecology, I have built up a diverse network of collaborators including: BTO, Butterfly Conservation, Natural history Museum, the Organic Research Centre, the Community Supported Agriculture Network, Landworkers Alliance, FiBL (Switzerland), Norwegian University of Life Science and several UK Universities, particularly the University of Edinburgh.

I believe passionately that we need to understand how we can use our knowledge to facilitate the common good. Art and Design have long been a missing link in this inquiry and must have a central role in reframing how we regenerate land and society. Alongside MARD, I am Associate Professor at the Centre for Agroecology Water and Resilience at Coventry University, Chair of the Agricultural Ecology Special Interest Group of the British Ecological Society and am Associate Editor of the Journal of Insect Conservation. My work is published in a range of scientific journals.

Barbara Smith

Biography

Central Saint Martins

Contact

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