Bethany Smith

I am an applied environmental social scientist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Livelihoods Lab. 

My research supports sustainable and equitable rural livelihoods in the tropics applying participatory methods, risk analysis, and spatial science. Through my work, I focus on supporting locally relevant and inclusive decision-making under complex environmental and social challenges.

Over the past five years, I have worked with international research organisations including the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and WorldFish. My work has centered on the co-development of decision support tools, climate-based risk assessments, and spatially integrated planning approaches for aquatic food system development (e.g., rice-fish systems) in Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR, and Liberia. 

My PhD completed at James Cook University, developed a livelihoods-based risk profiling framework (LRPF) to support adaptation planning in rural Solomon Island communities. 

I am actively involved in academic and practitioner networks, including serving as convener of the Australian chapter of the Marine Social Sciences Network. I maintain a strong commitment to capacity sharing, co-design, and transdisciplinary research that centers local knowledge and community priorities.