Laurence C. Smith
Professor and Vice-Chair
UCLA Department of Geography
1255 Bunche Hall, Box 951524, 405 Hilgard Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524
t: 310.825.1071
f: 310.206.5976
email: lsmith[AT]geog[DOT]ucla[DOT]edu
office: 1127A Bunche Hall

EDUCATION

Ph.D Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, 1996

M.S. Earth Sciences, Indiana University, 1991

B.S. Earth Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1989

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Laurence C. Smith is Professor and Vice-Chair of Geography and Professor of Earth & Space Sciences at UCLA. His research interest include topics of northern hydrology, climate change, carbon cycles and satellite remote sensing. He has published over sixty peer-reviewed articles including in the journals Science, Nature, and PNAS and won more than $6M in research funding from NSF and NASA. In 2007 his work appeared prominently in the Fourth Assessment Report of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 2006-2007 he was named a Guggenheim Fellow by the John S. Guggenheim Foundation, and is currently serving on steering committees for NASA, the World Economic Forum, and the National Research Council.

His book THE WORLD IN 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future (Plume: New York, 2011; U.K. edition titled THE NEW NORTH, Profile: London, 2011 with translations in 14 languages), a general-audience book synthesizing cross-cutting themes of population demographics, economic globalization, natural resource demand, and climate change with particular emphasis on northern countries won the Walter P. Kistler Book Award in 2011 and was a NATURE Editor's Pick of 2012. In 2012 he was an invited speaker for the World Economic Forum in Davos. His work has received coverage in The Wall Street Journal,The Economist, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, The Financial Times, Discover Magazine, NPR, CBC Radio, BBC and others.

GRANTS

Please click on "Curriculum Vitae" below for information on past and current grant activity

AWARDS

AAAS John Wesley Powell Speaker (2012)
Walter P. Kistler Book Award (2011)
John D. Rockefeller Bellagio Residency (2007)
Guggenheim Fellow (2006-07)
Discover Magazine Top 100 (2006)
AGU Frontier Lecturer (2005)
NASA New Investigator (2000)
AGU Outstanding Student Paper Award (1995)
NASA ESS/GSRP Fellow (1994-1996)
GSA Fahnestock Award (1994)
Most Outstanding Grad Student, Cornell (1993)

Please click on "Curriculum Vitae" below for other awards and information

GRAD STUDENTS

I have had the privilege of mentoring a very select group of extraordinary graduate students and postdoctoral scientists, namely:

Cynthia Hall-Atkinson (M.A., now working at JPL)

Dr. Karen E. Frey (M.A.,Ph.D., now Assistant Professor at Clark University, Department of Geography)

Dr. Yongwei Sheng (postdoctoral researcher, now Associate Professor at UCLA, Department of Geography)

Dr. Tamlin M. Pavelsky (M.A.,Ph.D., now Assistant Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, Department of Geological Sciences)

Dr. Asa K. Rennermalm (postdoctoral researcher, now Assistant Professor at Rutgers University, Department of Geography)

Vena W. Chu (M.A., now earning PhD)

Scott R. Stephenson (M.A., now earning PhD)

Matthew K. Mersel (M.A., now working at CRREL)

Colin J. Gleason (now earning Ph.D.)

Lincoln H. Pitcher (now earning M.A.)