Stephen Smith

Biography

Stephen Smith marine benthic ecologist with primary interests in the amazing biodiversity that can be found in our marine and estuarine environments. Much of this diversity is under threat from a wide range of human impacts and I am dedicated to understanding these impacts with a view to fostering long-term sustainability. Because little is known about the distribution and dynamics of marine biodiversity in Australia, especially in subtidal environments, much of my research focuses on measuring and monitoring diversity and determining the main factors that cause it to change - this includes both natural and human-induced impacts. This is a very broad area of research and my specific interests

Research Interest

work focuses on the highly diverse communities associated with subtropical reefs on the east coast of Australia. However, I am also actively involved in research in the Antarctic, subantarctic and tropical SE Asia. Although I have and do work on fish as part of wider benthic assemblages, my main interest is in marine invertebrates and especially the molluscs. This latter group are not only highly diverse, occurring in most if not