Professor Tim Smith PhD, is the inaugural Director of the Sustainability Research Centre at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), which is one of three flagship research concentrations of the university, comprised of over 60 researchers. Prior to his appointment with USC, Prof Smith was a senior research scientist with the CSIRO. He has also led the social science research and education portfolios of two national research centres, the Coastal Cooperative Research Centre and the Catchment Hydrology Cooperative Research Centre. Apart from academic appointments, he has also worked in local government, state government, and private industry. Prof Smith has led numerous research projects relating to sustainability (lead or co-Chief Investigator on over $14m of competitive research grants) and has authored over 100 publications in this area. He has undertaken numerous projects for national and international organisations such as the Australian Research Council, CSIRO, Land and Water Australia, five Cooperative Research Centres, AusAID, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Volkswagen Foundation, Compagnia di San Paolo, and UNDP. Along with his research partners, he was awarded the 2009 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Innovative Solutions to Climate Change, and the 2009 NSW Coastal Innovation Award in 2009. He also received the Vice Chancellor’s Medal for Excellence in Research and Research Training in 2010. He has held adjunct or honorary positions at Griffith University, the University of Queensland, and the New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute at the Victoria University of Wellington. Prof Smith’s areas of expertise focus on the relationships between people, place and change, particularly in relation to coastal management, climate change adaptation, and water governance.