Jim Smith

I am an expert in radioactive pollution of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, having worked on this since 1990. I have coordinated four multi-national projects on the environmental consequences of the Chernobyl accident and regularly work in the Chernobyl 30-km Exclusion Zone. I am lead author of a major book on the accident: Chernobyl: Catastrophe and Consequences and authored a key opinion piece in Nature in the wake of the Fukushima accident. I am a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Expert Group on the Chernobyl Cooling Pond, and have advised Fukushima Prefecture on the consequences of the 2011 accident. My and colleagues' research on the effects of wildlife at Chernobyl received worldwide media attention with the finding that wildlife is abundant in the abandoned areas around Chernobyl.

I am currently Professor of Environmental Science at Portsmouth University.