Professor Bernard John Smith was an English geomorphologist and physical geographer. He was born in the English village of Beer in Dorset where he attended the local school until the family's relocation to London.
Early career
He studied Geography at the University of Reading and graduated in 1971. He continued at Reading as a research student under the supervision of Dr. Colin Mitchell. His research work was geomorphological mapping and process studies in Tunisia. He graduated with his PhD from the University of Reading in 1975 and relocated to Nigeria with Dorothy his wife, where he taught at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. On his return to the UK he took up a lecturing position in the Geography Department of Queen's University Belfast in 1979. This provided the academic base for the rest of his career, being appointed Senior Lecturer, Reader and finally held the Chair in Tropical Geomorphology from 1998. He continued in post until illness necessitated early retirement in 2011.
Research
His research interests were wide and varied but were rooted in his love of hot deserts and tropical landscapes and his desire to better understand the processes that shape them. Whilst the interpretation and exploration of landscapes formed the central core of Bernard Smith's career, his interest in process studies, and weathering processes in particular, led him onto some of his most significant geomorphological work. Bernard Smith's first publications were on desert geomorphology but his wide interests were also focussed on the formation of desert dust and loess. His interest in desert weathering then started to develop in the direction of building stone decay. His first work on this was in Venice and then developed to investigations on pollution-related weathering in the UK, Hungary and Brazil. Links with engineers and building conservationists were facilitated with grants and post-doctoral support for workers at QUB. He established the Weathering Research Group in the early 1990s in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology at Queen's University Belfast. The focus of this group was on improving understanding of stone weathering in both natural and built environments and resulted in Bernard Smith's involvement with local conservation architects and the wider building conservation and restoration communities in the UK, Europe and further afield. In recent years, he played a leading role in understanding the impact of climate change on the UK's stone-built heritage and new build. Bernard Smith's interest in landscape interpretation was used as he became increasingly involved with wider conservation issues. This was first as a member of the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside in Northern Ireland. His advisory role for Northern Ireland's World Heritage Site at the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast developed on a broader global stage as a UNESCO world heritage evaluator. Bernard Smith supervised the launch of many geomorphological careers with his thoughtful PhD supervision influenced many of the undergraduate students who came into contact with him. He was an inspiring teacher who believed that it was essential for the future of geomorphology that all students and practitioners should have a thorough understanding of the history and development of the subject. During his time on the British Society for Geomorphology Executive Committee he did much to further the support for postgraduates. For many years he was an organiser and facilitator of the 'Windsor Workshop' for new research students run by the BSG. He became Vice Chair of the BSG and Chair in 2011.
