Pete Smith

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Pete Smith

Professor

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3784-1124
    • 99762
      Citations
    1980 …2026

    Research activity per year

    Personal profile

    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 Reseatch Fellows, 18 Post-docs, 19 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), Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE; elected 2009), a Rothamsted Research Fellow (2010-2015) and Fellow of the Royal Society (London; elected 2017).

    Research Profile

    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)

    Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

    In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

    • SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
    • SDG 13 - Climate Action
    • SDG 15 - Life on Land

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    • Sustainable agriculture creates management trade-offs, not conflicts, between crop productivity and soil carbon storage goals

      Encarnation, D. G. (Corresponding Author), Powell, R. S., Smith, P. & Pellegrini, A. F. A., 19 Jan 2026, (Accepted/In press) In: Science of the Total Environment.

      Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    • The global hydrogen budget

      Ouyang, Z., Jackson, R. B. (Corresponding Author), Saunois, M., Canadell, J. G., Zhao, Y., Morfopoulos, C., Krummel, P. B., Patra, P. K., Peters, G. P., Dennison, F., Gasser, T., Archibald, A. T., Arora, V., Baudoin, G., Chandra, N., Ciais, P., Davis, S. J., Feron, S., Guo, F. & Hauglustaine, D. & 19 others, Jones, C. D., Jones, M. W., Kato, E., Kennedy, D., Knauer, J., Lienert, S., Lombardozzi, D., Melton, J. R., Nabel, J. E. M. S., O’Sullivan, M., Pétron, G., Poulter, B., Rogelj, J., Calle, D. S., Smith, P., Suntharalingam, P., Tian, H., Wang, C. & Wiltshire, A., 18 Dec 2025, In: Nature. 648, p. 616-624 19 p.

      Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

      Open Access
      File

    • Rethinking Global Soil Degradation: Drivers, Impacts, and Solutions

      Shokri, N. (Corresponding Author), Robinson, D. A., Afshar, M., Alewell, C., Aminzadeh, M., Arthur, E., Broothaerts, N., Campbell, G., Eklund, L., Gupta, S., Harper, R., Hassani, A., Hohenegger, C., Keller, T., Kiener, M., Lebron, I., Madani, K., Marwala, T., Matthews, F. & Moldrup, P. & 10 others, Nemes, A., Panagos, P., Prăvălie, R., Rillig, M. C., Saggau, P., Shokri-Kuehni, S. M. S., Smith, P., Thomas, A., de Jonge, L. W. & Or, D., Dec 2025, In: Reviews of Geophysics. 63, 4, 103 p., e2025RG000883.

      Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

      Open Access
      File

    • Land use-induced soil carbon loss in the dry tropics nearly offsets gains in northern lands

      Wang, H. (Corresponding Author), Ciais, P. (Corresponding Author), Yang, H., Smith, P., Grassi, G., Schwingshackl, C., Panagos, P., Bar-On, Y., Sitch, S., Chevallier, F., Palmer, P. I., Li, X., Hong, S., Chang, J., Albergel, C., Fan, L., Wang, K., Liu, L., Frappart, F. & Wigneron, J.-P., 14 Nov 2025, In: Nature Communications. 16, 12 p., 10008.

      Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

      Open Access
      File

    • Unlocking Synergies: Climate Mitigation, Clean Air, and Health Benefits of Sustainable Bioenergy in China

      Xu, Y., Smith, P. & Qin, Z. (Corresponding Author), 11 Nov 2025, In: Environmental Science & Technology. 59, 44, p. 23786–23801 16 p.

      Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

      Open Access
      File
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    • 3 Presentation
    • 2 Attending/organising Workshop, seminar, or course
    • 1 Other
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