James Smith

Dr. Smith’s work focuses on the hydrology, hydraulics and hydrometeorology of extreme floods. He holds a BSE in Mathematics from the University of Georgia, an MSE in Mathematical Sciences and a PhD in Geography and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins. Smith’s research group has been involved in numerous hydrometeorological field campaigns, most recently in connection with the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES), a component of the NSF LTER program. Field studies in the BES have also examined the heterogeneity of hydrologic response in urbanizing watersheds, the stability of the channel-floodplain system in urban drainage networks and the hydraulics of extreme floods in urban rivers. In addition to field campaigns focused on intensively monitoring research watersheds, Smith and his colleagues have been extensively involved in field studies of major floods in the United States. His research has appeared in journals such as Advances in Water Resources and the Journal of Hydrometeorology.