Dr Thomas Smith

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

Research Overview

My research is collectively focused on interactions between people and the environment and their consequences for environmental learning, sustainability, and how these are linked to education and educational settings. There are two main themes: (1) Geographies of children and young people, nature and sustainability and (2) Development Geographies.

Theme One: Geographies of children and young people, nature and sustainability

The first major theme of my research is advancing social and spatial understandings of children and young people’s interactions with, and their understanding of, the natural world and sustainability. My work has focused on the ways in which children and young people come to understand, interact with, and develop a connection to nature and the outdoors, as well as exploring the inequalities and injustices that pervade access to natural, outdoor spaces. More broadly, I have worked on themes of mobility, social interaction and heritage in rural, countryside and outdoor settings.

Current projects:

‘Poverty of experience’? Inequalities of nature and the outdoors (2022-) Access to nature and the outdoors is increasingly recognised as a key societal injustice. This ongoing work explores the cultures of nature and inclusion/exclusion in outdoor learning organisations, alongside the experiences of marginalised young people and children in outdoor learning settings. It has a particular focus on interactions between adults and young people in outdoor settings, whether in families or organised groups.

• Smith, T. A., Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. (2022) Unfamiliar landscapes: young people and diverse outdoor experiences. London: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Children’s understandings of energy use and sustainability in schools (2021-) With school classrooms acting as ‘Living Labs’, we are working with primary school children to better understand energy use, and their own bodily comfort in schools. The project seeks to understand how children experience thermal and environmental (dis)comfort, and how these experiences relate to energy use and sustainability in classrooms and schools more widely. We aim to increase children’s awareness of energy data, and to co-produce sustainable solutions with them, using practical workshops. Funding: Zapata-Lancaster, G. and Smith, T.A., ESRC IAA; Zapata-Lancaster, G. and Smith, T.A., EPSRC IAA.

• Zapata-Lancaster, M. G., Ionas, M., Toyinbo, O. and Smith, T. A. (2023) Carbon dioxide concentration levels and thermal comfort in primary school classrooms: what pupils and teachers do. Sustainability 15(6), article number: 4803.
• Zapata-Lancaster, G., Smith, T.A. and Ioanis, M. (2022) Indoor air quality in primary schools: final report. Cardiff University.
• Zapata-Lancaster, G., Smith, T.A. and Ionias, M. (2021) Indoor air quality in primary schools: First report. Project Report. Cardiff: Cardiff University.

Co-creating urban environments with children and young people from marginalised communities (2021-) Working in Grangetown in Cardiff, we are co-designing a neighbourhood plan with children and young people. The project aims to demonstrate how children and young people can assess and re-design the physical and social fabric of their neighbourhood to better suit their needs and to be inclusive for all. It contributes to understanding the impact of covid-19 on their lives, and the spatial experience of inequalities, whilst engaging with urban planners and local authorities to make interventions beneficial for young people. Funding: Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Harris, N. and McVicar, Cardiff University Civic Mission Fund and Cardiff Council.

• Khan, M., Nekeb, S., Smith, T.A. Harris, N. and McVicar, M. (2023). A Grangetown to grow up in: A children and young people’s plan for Grangetown, Cardiff. Cardiff University
• Khan, M., Smith, T.A. and Harris, N. (2022) Co-designing a greener, fairer and stronger community for children’s wellbeing, SALUS, Available Online: https://salus.global/article-show/co-designing-a-greener-fairer-and-stronger-community-for-children-s-wellbeing

Navigation, technology and interactions outdoors (2019-) This ongoing research explores how social interaction is done in outdoor, natural or ‘wild’ settings, with a particular emphasis on navigation of outdoor, wild environments, use of mobile digital technologies, and interactions with heritage in outdoor settings. Further research has examined how navigation is done in orienteering courses in both mountainous and other countryside landscapes in international settings. With: Ria Dunkley (Glasgow University); Eric Laurier (Edinburgh University); Stuart Reeves (Nottingham University); Robin Smith (Cardiff University); Samu Pehkonen (Police University, Tempere).

• Smith, T.A., Dunkley, R.A. and Jones, S. (2022) Storying wild landscapes: Multimodal interactions with digital app-based heritage, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 28(7), 803-819.
• Pehkonen, S., Smith, T. A. and Smith, R. J. (2022) Maps, mobility, and perspective: remarks on map use in producing an orienteering course. Mobilities 17(1), 152-178.
• Laurier, E. Dunkley, R.A., Smith, T.A. and Reeves, S. (2021) Crossing with care: bogs, streams and assistive mobilities as family praxis in the countryside. Gesprächsforschung: Online-Zeitschrift zur verbalen Interaktion.
• Smith, T.A., Laurier, E., Reeves, S. and Dunkley, R. (2020) “Off the beaten map”: navigating with digital maps on moorland. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 45(1), 223-240.

Logging skill: Understanding how logbooks communicate experience and competence (2021-) This project uses recording and logging of experience in Mountain and Outdoor Leadership qualifications, and the practices of outdoor leadership training, to examine the process of recording and communicating experiences, skills and competences. Through examining the logging of skills in the Mountain, Hill and Moorland, and Lowland leader awards we explore the issue of knowledge transmission and how this is connected to people’s relationships with upland landscapes. With: Rachel Hunt (Edinburgh University).

Beasts of the UK: Implications for conservation and rewilding (2020-) Big cats and other ‘out of place’ animals, including unexpectedly (re)introduced creatures, and spectral animal presences, continue to be sited across the UK, whilst many crop up in discussions of countryside rewilding. This project explores how people make sense of these presences, including how they experience encounters with such creatures, and how these influence understandings of the UK countryside and its wildlife. These encounters have wider significance for current debates on conservation, rewilding and species (re)introduction in the UK. With: Kieran O’Mahony (Czech Academy of Sciences).

Past Projects:

Leicester Young Ecology Adventurers evaluation (2017-2019) Working with the Canal and Rivers Trust (CRT), and the Somali Community Parents Association (SOCOPA), we evaluated a two-year project to facilitate young people from the Somali community in Leicester to access waterways in and near the city. The young people learnt to canoe, and explored waterway heritage and nature as part of the programme, and worked towards the John Muir Award. Our mid-project and final evaluations fed into project design and future work with young people. We examined themes of comfort and discomfort in often unfamiliar bluespaces, including issues around race, and physical and emotional (dis)comforts in these landscapes.

• Smith, T.A. and Pitt, H. (2024) Noticing nature on the waterways, Children's Geographies. 
• Smith, T. A. and Pitt, H. (2022) ‘But, would we be the odd family?’: Encountering and producing unfamiliar bodies and landscapes. In: Smith, T. A., Pitt, H. and Dunkley, R. A. eds. Unfamiliar Landscapes: Young People and Diverse Outdoor Experiences. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 283-308.
• Pitt, H. and Smith, T.A (2019) Leicester Young Ecology Adventurers: Evaluation Report 2: Final, Cardiff: Cardiff University: School and Geography and Planning and Sustainable Places Research Institute.

Children’s roaming’s in, and understandings of, National Park landscapes. (2016-2017) In this project we examined how children who live within or nearby the Brecon Beacons National Park experience and understand this landscape, and engage in environmental pedagogies (or ecopedagogies) with National Park educators. Using creative methods, we considered how children make use of technologies to facilitate their roaming, how they imagine the landscape of the Park, and how environmental education methods structure their understandings of nature. Funding: Dunkley, R.A. and Smith. T.A., ESRC IAA.

• Smith, T. A. and Dunkley, R. A. (2021) Video ethnography. In: Benzon, N. V. et al. eds. Creative Methods for Human Geographers. Sage, 297-307.
• Dunkley, R.A. and Smith, T.A. (2019) Geocoaching: memories and habits of learning in practices of ecopedagogy. The Geographical Journal185(3), 292-302.
• Dunkley, R.A. and Smith, T.A. (2019) By-standing memories of curious observations: Children's storied landscapes of ecological encounter. Cultural Geographies26(1), 89-107.
• Smith, T.A. and Dunkley, R. (2018) Technology-nonhuman-child assemblages: reconceptualising rural childhood roaming. Children's Geographies16(3), 304-318.
• Dunkley, R. A. and Smith, T. A. (2016) Evaluating the Outdoor Learning Toolkit 2016. Project Report. Cardiff University: Sustainable Places Research Institute.

Digital app-based interactions with heritage landscapes in outdoor settings. Increasingly mobile and digital technologies are used to enable visitors to explore heritage sites, but studies to date have primarily focused on museum settings with limited research on the actual explorations of outdoor heritage landscapes using digital devices as guides. This project, working with the Brecon Beacons National Park Interpretation team, evaluated an interactive guide app that took visitors around remote hill forts in the Park. We examined the ongoing interactions that occurred throughout visits using video recordings of the visits themselves. With: Ria Dunkley (Glasgow University); Suzanna Jones (Brecon Beacons National Park Authority).

• Smith, T.A., Dunkley, R.A. and Jones, S. (2022) Storying wild landscapes: Multimodal interactions with digital app-based heritage, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 28(7), 803-819.

Theme Two: Development geographies

The second theme is focused on development geographies, and specifically environmental management, conservation and indigeneity in the Global South, and children and young people’s engagement with environmental pedagogy, with a geographical focus on Tanzania. My work in the Global South extends to the impacts of precious gem mining and intersections with indigenous identity (Tanzania), how children and teachers experienced educational spaces in the pandemic (Bangladesh), and livelihood impacts of low-income home building (Kenya and the Philippines). 

Current projects:

Changing spatialities of learning in Bangladesh (2020-) This work explores the disruption to learning that teachers and learners experienced during the pandemic in urban contexts of Bangladesh. It examines how physical (often outdoor) and digital learning spaces intersect, and the proliferation and blurring of educational spaces during crisis. Ongoing impact work has included work with teachers and pupils to re-imagine outdoor learning spaces and lesson planning for digital-outdoor teaching. Funding: Khan, M. and Smith, T.A., ESRC IAA; Khan, MN. and Smith, T.A. HEFCW GCRF.

• Khan, M., Smith, T. A., Anand, K., Hossain, T. and Islam, M. Z. (2022) Crisis-led approaches to teaching and learning in Bangladesh: towards a blended learning framework. Cardiff University.
• Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Islam, M.Z., Anand, K., Hossain, T., Ahmed, S., Islam, M.R., Atuly, A.S., Nayeem, A., Sabbab, S., Hassan, M., Sarwar, M.A.H. (2021) Crisis-led approaches to teaching and learning in Bangladesh: Workshop 1 Report, Cardiff: Cardiff University School of Geography and Planning.

Mining and sustainability in the Global South (2020-) This research as focused on artisanal gold mining in Brazil and more recently on Tanzanite mining in northern Tanzania. This later project focuses on the practices and power relations of mining precious gemstones, considering relations with land, local enskillment, and the achievement of sustainable futures. Funding: Herman, A. and Smith, T.A., RGS-IBG Environment and Sustainability Research Grant; Lambert-Smith, J., Herman, A., Smith, T.A., and Gomez, M. HERCW GCRF.

Past Projects:

Employment and livelihood Impacts of low-Income housing construction in developing cities.  This project explored the currently under-reported livelihood impacts on low-income urban dwellers of moving into new or improved dwellings, and the employment impacts of low-income home building on the complex formal and informal supply chain. This research compares housing schemes in Kenya and the Philippines, working in partnership with Real Equity for All (Reall). Funding:

• Smith, T.A. and Brown, A. (2019) Community-led housing and urban livelihoods: measuring employment in low-income housing delivery. Habitat International, 94, article number: 102061. 
• Smith, T. A., Brown, A. and Owen, J. (2019) Employment generation from affordable housing: Outcomes of Reall-funded CLIFF projects in Kenya and the Philippines. Cardiff: Cardiff University: School of Geography and Planning.
• Smith, T. A., Brown, A. and Dickenson, K. (2016) Employment Generation from CLIFF Projects: Reall Project Report, Cardiff University: School of Geography and Planning, Informal Economy Research Observatory

Indigeneity, environment and sustainability. This work brought together two strands of my ongoing research, which concerns the role of spiritual ontologies in local environmental relations in Tanzania, and how ‘new’ knowledges (such as Carbon sequestration) are understood by communities in the global South as they become part of local development interventions in environmental management.

• Smith, T.A. (2020) Episodes of concealing: the invisibility of political ontologies in sacred forests. Cultural Geographies 27(3), 333-350. 
• Smith, T.A., Murrey, A. and Leck, H. (2017) 'What kind of witchcraft is this?' Development, magic and spiritual ontologies. Third World Thematics2(2-3), 141-156.
• Smith, T. A. (2017) Witchcraft, spiritual worldviews and environmental management: rationality and assemblage, Environment and Planning A 49(3), 592-611. 
• Smith, T. A. & Andindilili, W. (2017) Assemblages of forest conservation in Tanzania: Gradients between chiefs, snakes, spirits and witches, Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal 2(2-3), 316-337. 
• Holmes, G., Smith, T. A. and Ward, C. (2017) Fantastic beasts and why to conserve them: animals, magic and biodiversity conservation, Oryx: The International Journal of Conservation 52(2), 231-239.
• Twyman, C., Smith, T. A. and Arnall, A. (2015) What is carbon? Conceptualising carbon and carbon capabilities in the context of community-based sequestration projects in the global South, WIREs Climate Change 6(6), 627-641.

Environmental education, conservation and youth Identity in Tanzania. Based on my PhD research, this work examined how children and young people participate in a range of environmental education initiatives, and the subsequent impacts on their sustainable actions in both urban and rural contexts. It further examined how environmental knowledges, including local indigenous knowledges and those produced through educational initiatives, intersect and impact on local conservation.

• Sutherland, M., Smith, T. A., Stack, N. & Tungaraza, F. (2017) Navigating the shifting terrain between policy and practice for gifted learners in Tanzania, in Sumida, M. and Taber, K. S. Policy and Practice in Science Education for the Gifted, Routledge, London.
• Smith, T. A. and Philips, R. P. (2016) Informal Education, it’s Drivers and Geographies: Necessity and Curiosity in Africa and the West, in: Abebe, T., Waters, J. and Skelton, T. Labouring and Learning: Geographies of Children and Young People, Volume 10.
• Sutherland, M., Stack, N., Smith, T. A. & Tungaraza, F. (2016) Creating a space and place for diverse learners in multifarious contexts, in Sumida, M. and Taber, K. S. International Perspectives on Science Education for the Gifted: Key Issues and Challenges, Routledge, London.
• Smith, T. A. (2014) The student is not the fisherman: temporal displacement of young people’s identities in Tanzania. Social & Cultural Geography, 15(7), 786-811.
• Smith, T.A. (2013) The dominant/marginal lives of young Tanzanians: Spaces of knowing at the intersection of Children's Geographies and Development Geographies. Geoforum 48, 10-23.
• Smith, T.A. (2011). Local knowledge in development (geography). Geography Compass 5(8), 595-609.

Research Grants:

• The Community Open Map Platform for Future Generations: Charting the green transition on the Isle of Anglesey/Ynys Môn (COMP) (2023-2025) Samuel, F. (PI), et al. (inc. Smith, T.A. Co-I), AHRC Green Transition Ecosystems (£4.6M). 
• Towards a child- and youth-friendly Dhaka: Piloting a co-creation children and young people's plan  toolkit in marginalised communities in Bangladesh (2024-2025) Khan, M. (PI) and Smith, T.A. (Co-I), HEFCW ODA Award (£39,807).
• Cardiff University and Cardiff Council Partnership for Child Friendly Cardiff Programme 2023/24 (2023-2024) Smith, T.A. (PI), Khan, M.(Co-I), Harris, N. (Co-I) and Shahab, S. (Co-I), Cardiff Council (£24,999).
• Children as sustainable citizens: educational package to explore and learn about sustainability in primary schools (2024), Zapata-Lancaster, G. (PI) and Smith, T.A. (Co-I), Civic Mission and Public Engagement Progression Fund (£10,000).
• Making neighbourhood parks inclusive for teenage girls and young women (2023-2024) Shahab, S. (PI), Khan, M.(Co-I), Smith, T.A.(Co-I) and Harris, N.(Co-I), ESRC IAA (£29,966).
• Pathways to Just and Sustainable Development Practices through Tanzanite Mining and Production (2022-2023), Herman, A. (PI) and Smith, T.A. (Co-I), RGS-IBG Environment and Sustainability Research Grant (£15,000).
• Developing an online platform to support pupils and teachers to actively engage, explore and learn about sustainable and healthy school buildings (2023), Zapata-Lancaster, G. (PI), Smith, T.A. (Co-I) and Nervo, V.D. (Co-I), CRoSS (Commercialising Research out of Social Sciences) Fund (£5,500). 
• A Blended Learning Framework for Bangladesh: Policy and practice placement on spatialities of the future of education (2022-2023) Khan, M. (PI) and Smith, T.A. (Co-I), ESRC IAA (£14,966).
• Schools as Living Labs: Fostering behaviours for healthy indoor air quality (2022-2023) Zapata-Lancaster, G. (PI) and Smith, T.A. (Co-I), ESRC IAA (£19,410).
• Co-Creating a child- and youth-friendly Covid recovery plan for marginalised communities in Cardiff(2021-2022), Khan, M. (PI), Smith, T.A. (Co-I), Harris, N. (Co-I) and McVicar (Co-I), Cardiff University Civic Mission Fund and Cardiff Council (£14,500).
• Indoor air quality toolkit for primary schools for covid-19 mitigation (2021-2022) Zapata-Lancaster, G. (PI) and Smith, T.A. (Co-I), EPSRC IAA (£19,866).
• Crisis-led approaches to teaching and learning in Bangladesh: New frameworks for outdoor, blended learning in low-income country contexts (2020-2021), Khan, MN. (PI) and Smith, T.A. (Co-I), HEFCW GCRF (£39,897).
• Canal and Rivers Trust – Work Package 5: Understanding engagement with waterways (2020-2021), Pitt, H. (PI) and Smith, T.A. (Co-I), Canal and Rivers Trust (£36,000).
• Sustainable Futures for Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (2020-2021) Lambert-Smith, J. (PI), Herman, A. (Co-I), Smith, T.A. (Co-I), and Gomez, M. (Co-I) HERCW GCRF (£39,929).
• Improved low-income housing programme design in the global South: Impacts on employment and livelihoods (2018-2019), Smith, T.A. (PI) and Brown, A. (Co-I) HEFCW GCRF, (£33,511)
• Leicester Young Ecology Adventurers Evaluation (2017-2019) Pitt, H. (PI) and Smith, T.A. (Co-I), Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) via Somali Community Parents Association (SOCOPA) (£8,500, total project value: £49,800).
• Developing a new employment impact measurement for direct and indirect livelihood opportunities created from the Real Equality for All (Reall) Community-Led Infrastructure Funding Facility (CLIFF) Programme of affordable house building in Nairobi, Kenya (2016-2017) Smith, T.A. (PI) and Brown. A. (Co-I) Real Equity for All (Reall) (£4,735).
• Building evaluative capacity amongst outdoor learning practitioners: Enhancing understanding of user experience through sharing place-based research methods (2016-2017) Dunkley, R.A. (PI) and Smith. T.A. (Co-I), ESRC IAA (£3,000).
• Volunteers and Young People in the Global South (2013), Smith, T.A. (PI) ESRC Festival of Social Sciences (£1,334).
• 2013-2014: Sheffield University Foreign Research and Travel Grant, Dr T.A. Smith (£1,500).
• 2009-2010: Journal of Urban Studies Overseas Research Grant, Dr T.A. Smith (£1500).
• 2008-2009: Royal Scottish Geographical Society Small Research Grant, Dr T.A. Smith (£500).
• 2007-2011: Journal of Urban Studies Research Scholarship for MRes and PhD, Dr T.A. Smith (£50,000).

Teaching

I currently teach on the undergraduate BSc Human Geography course. I supervise both undergraduate and postgraduate dissertaion students and act as a personal tutor to students across these levels.

Administrative Roles:

• Chair: School Ethics Committee
• Member: Athena SWAN Committee

Current Undergraduate Modules:

• The Geographical Imagination - Module Leader (1st year)
• The Global Countryside - Lecturer (1st year)
• Development and the Global South  - Module Leader (2nd year)

Past Undergraduate and Postgraduate Modules: 

• Researching Contemporary Issues In Tanzania - Module Leader (3rd year)
• Critical Geographies of Developing Spaces (3rd year)
• Citizen Geographies (2nd year)
• Researching Spatial Planning and International Development (PGT)

PhD Supervision:

• Rosie Havers (Cardiff University: Principle Supervisor) 2021-present, Title: The Geographies of the Digital-Outdoors: Bringing Together Digital and Outdoor Learning Spaces in Welsh Primary Schools, Second Supervisors: Dr Matluba Kahn and Karen Clarke (NRW).
• Nia Rees (Cardiff University: Co-Supervisor) 2021-present, Title: Prevention of youth homelessness: an exploration of mediation in networks of care and place attachment. Principle Supervisor: Peter Mackie; Co-Supervisor, Richard Gale.
• Regan Doyle (Cardiff University) 2015-2018 (completed), Title: Slum economies: Spatial drivers of economic activity hubs in informal settlements - A case of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Principle supervisor – Professor Alison Brown.
• Lucy Baker (Cardiff University) 2015-2018 (completed), Title: Scripting mobilities in sub-Saharan Africa: A case study of second-hand bicycle networks, Principle Supervisor – Dr Justin Spinney.

Biography

Career

• Reader in Human Geography, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, 2023-present
• Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, 2020-2023
• Lecturer in Human Geography, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, 2015-2020
• Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth, Sheffield University, 2014.
• Teaching Associate, Department of Geography, Sheffield University, 2012-2014.
• Lecturer (temporary), School of Social Justice and Inclusion, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2012.

Education and Qualifications

• BA Geography, University of Southampton, 2004.
• PCGE Secondary Education, Geography, University of Southampton, 2005.
• MRes Human Geography, University of Glasgow, 2008.
• PhD Geography, University of Glasgow, 2012.

Professional memberships

Fellow: The Royal Geographical Society, Affiliated with the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group, and the Developing Areas Research Group. 

Associate Member: Association of Heritage Interpretation

Speaking engagements

1. Khan, M. and Smith, T.A. (2023) The impact of lockdown in children's lived experiences in Bangladesh, RGS-IBG, London. 
2. Smith, T.A. (2023) Apps Outdoors: Technology, interpretation, navigation and interaction when roaming in the wild, Game on For Nature Conference 2023, Ecosystems Knowledge Network
3. Smith, T.A. and Pitt, H. (2023) Event Organisers: Unfamiliar Landscapes: Book Launch and Discussing Diversity in the Outdoors, Cardiff. 
4. Smith, T.A., and Khan, M. (2023) Conference Organisers: Geographies of Blended Learning: Digital, Outdoor and Blended approaches to learning - experiences in Wales, the UK and Internationally, Cardiff. 
5. Khan, M., Smith, T.A. (2023) Experiences of developing blended learning frameworks at the Bangladesh state level, Geographies of Blended Learning Conference, Cardiff.
6. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Harris, N. and Gattis, M. (2023) Children's play during the pandemic in urban Bangladesh, International Play Association Conference, Glasgow. 
7. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Harris, N. and McVicar (2022) Co-designing a greener, fairer, and stronger community for children’s wellbeing, Healthy City Design International Conference, London.
8. Khan, M. and Smith, T.A. (2022), Session Convenors: Disrupted spaces of education in the global South, RGS-IBG,Newcastle.
9. Khan, M., and Smith, T.A. (2022) Children’s negotiation of their everyday spaces during the pandemic in urban Bangladesh, RGS-IBG, Newcastle.
10. Khan, M. and Smith, T.A. (2022) Intersectionality of physical and digital spaces in primary education in Bangladesh during the pandemic: Towards a blended learning framework, RGS-IBG, Newcastle.
11. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., and Harris, N. (2022) Past, present and future of children’s play in Grangetown, RGS-IBG, Newcastle.
12. Smith, T.A. (2021) Leicester Young Ecology Adventurers: Canoeing, Ecology and Heritage in an Unfamiliar Setting, Explorathon 2021, Glasgow University.
13. Smith, T.A. (2021) Informality and construction supply chains: Tracing formal-informal networks of materials, Informal Research Observatory, Cardiff.
14. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Islam, M.K., Anand, K. and Hossain, T. (2021) Crisis-led approaches to teaching and learning in Bangladesh: Webinar (Workshop 2), Cardiff University
15. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Islam, M.K., Anand, K. and Hossain, T. (2021) Towards a blended learning framework for post-pandemic Bangladesh, Education in Crisis Conference, University of Oxford.
16. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Islam, M.K., Anand, K. and Hossain, T. (2021) Crisis-led approaches to teaching and learning in Bangladesh: Workshop 1, Cardiff University
17. Smith, T.A. (2020) Parent mediation of children’s use of mobile technologies in moorland landscapes, MOBSIN 2020, Edinburgh.
18. O’Mahony, K. and Smith, T.A. (2020) Felid tales and more than human scales: Making sense of big can presences in wild(er) UK futures, Social and Cultural Geography Research Group, Cardiff University.
19. Smith, T. A. (2019) Maps n' Apps: What does following people trying to use an App around the countryside tell us about how people get to grips with moorland, PLACE Seminar Series, Cardiff.
20. Smith, T. A. and Pitt, H. (2018) Session Convenors: Introducing Young People to 'Unfamiliar Landscapes', RGS-IBG, Cardiff.
21. Smith, T. A. and Pitt, H. (2018) 'Beefed by a massive swan': Noticing and navigating in negotiating unfamiliar landscapes of youth, RGS-IBG, Cardiff.
22. Smith, T. A. (2018) Technologies of access and activity in young people's perceptions of, and meaningful engagements with, landscape, RGS-IBG, Cardiff.
23. Smith, T. A. (2018) Young people's engagement with nature, technologies and heritage in National Parks: Consequences for wellbeing and access, WISERD Annual Conference. 
24. Smith, T. A. and Pehkonen, S. (2018) How people talk about natural features when planning/setting orienteering courses for others' navigational purposes, MOBSIN 8, Cardiff.
25. Smith, T. A., Jones, S. and Dunkely, R. A. (2018) Using mobile evaluation methods to monitor visitor use of a heritage App 'in the wild': Walking with Romans in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Outdoor Recreation Network Conference: 'New Approaches to Monitoring Participation in Outdoor Research’, Cardiff.
26. Dunkley, R. A. and Smith, T. A. (2018) Representations of identities within mobile applications that seek to interpret dissonant heritage, European Social Science History Conference, Queens University, Belfast.
27. Smith, T. A., Dunkley, R., Reeves, S. and Laurier, E. (2017) Skilled navigation and the techniques of getting lost, HANS2 Workshop, Kuusamo, Finland.
28. Smith, T. A. (2017) The Chief and the Snake: Spiritual-Ecological-Political Assemblages of Sacred Site Protection, RGS-IBG, London.
29. Dunkley, R. A. and Smith, T. A. (2017) Scales of childhood roaming within the ‘educational landscape’ of the National Park, RGS-IBG, London.
30. Jones, S., Smith, T. A. and Dunkley, R. A. (2017) Measuring our interaction with digital heritage apps 'in the wild', Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, Digital Past Conference, Newport 
31. Smith, T. A. (2017) Invited Seminar Presentation: Apps Outdoors: Technology, interpretation, navigation and interaction when roaming in the wild, Digital Technology for Nature Interpretation, Centre for Nature Interpretation, Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
32. Smith, T. A., Dunkely, R. A. and Welch, S. (2016) Invited Workshop Presentation: Cardiff University & Brecon Beacons National Park Authority – Collaborative Research and Evaluation, UK National Park Authorities Outreach and Educators Joint Workshop, Pembrokeshire.
33. Smith, T. A., Dunkley, R. A., Reeves, S. and Laurier, E. (2016) Invited Workshop Presentation: Walking with Romans’: Technology, nature, navigation and interaction in outdoor settings, HANS Workshop, Oulu, Finland
34. Smith, T. A., Dunkley, R. A. and Jones, S. (2016) Measuring our interactions with mobile device applications ‘in the wild’: Can they change visitor behaviour? Association of Heritage Interpretation Annual Conference, Belfast.
35. Dunkley, R. A. and Smith, T. A. (2016) Event Organiser - Evaluating the Outdoor Learning Experience Workshop, ESRC Funded Impact Workshop, Bute Park Education Centre, Cardiff (50 people).
36. Smith, T. A. and Dunkley, R. A. (2016) New frontiers or frustrating distractions? Using innovative technological methods to understand the role of Apps and mobile technologies in children and families interactions within the outdoors, RGS-IBG, London.
37. Smith, T. A., Dunkley, R. A., and Jones, S. (2016) Invited Workshop Presentation: Interactions with mobile device applications ‘in the wild’: Can they change behaviour? Association of Heritage Interpretation and Brecon Beacons National Park Authority Workshop: Interpretation in Remote Landscapes, Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, Brecon and Trecastle.
38. Smith, T. A. (2016) Invited Discussion Panel: Project Wild Thing, Speaking on: Young People and Environmental Education, Cardiff SciSCREEN, Cardiff University.
39. Smith, T. A. and Dunkley, R. A. (2016) Roaming and nature, creativity and technology: experimenting with contrasting qualitative methodologies and impact in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Innovative Research Methods with Children and Young People Conference, School of Social Sciences, University of Cardiff.
40. Smith, T. A. and Dunkley, R. A. (2016) Roaming and nature, creativity and technology: experimenting with contrasting qualitative methodologies and impact in the Brecon Beacons National Park, South West Qualitative Research Symposium, University of Bath.
41. Sutherland, M., Stack, N., Smith, T. A., Tungaraza, F. (2016) Invited Seminar: Navigating the shifting terrain between policy and practice for gifted learners in Tanzania, Glasgow Centre for International Development, Glasgow University.
42. Dunkley, R. A. and Smith, T. A. (2015) At home in the Park: exploring resident young people’s interactions with nature within Brecon Beacons National Park, The Great Outdoors? Children, Young People and Families in Natural and Rural Spaces Conference, The University of Northampton.
43. Smith, T. A. (2015) Invited Presentation: Witchcraft, Spiritual Beliefs and Environmental Management in Tanzania, Sustainable Places Research Institute (PLACE) Seminar Series, Cardiff University.
44. Sutherland, M., Stack, N., Smith, T. A., Tungaraza, F. (2014) Contextualised Pedagogy for High Ability, 14th International European Council for High Ability Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
45. Smith, T. A. (2014) The student is not the fisherman: Temporal displacement of young people’s identities in Tanzania,Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth (CSCY) International Conference. Sheffield.
46. Smith, T. A. (2014) – Session Convenor: Witchcraft, spiritual beliefs, and the co-production of development knowledges and practices in the Majority World, RGS-IBG: Developing Areas Research Group (DARG) sponsored session, London
47. Twyman, C., Smith T. A. and Arnall, A. (2014) What is Carbon? Conceptualising carbon and carbon capabilities in the context of community-based sequestration projects in the global South, Green Economy in the South: Negotiating Environmental Governance, Prosperity and Development, University of Dodma, Tanzania.
48. Smith, T. A. (2013) Invited Presentation: Local knowledges and witchcraft in urban and rural Tanzania, Sheffield Geography Department Human Geography Seminar Series, Sheffield University
49. Smith, T. A. (2013) Invited Presentation: The dominant/marginal lives of young Tanzanians: Spaces of knowing at the intersection of Children's Geographies and Development Geography, Sheffield Institute for International Development Lecture Series, Sheffield University
50. Smith, T. A. (2012) ‘Other’ childhoods: negotiating ethical terrain across borders, RGS-IBG, London.
51. Smith, T. A. (2011) The origin of my research: thoughts on originality, RGS-IBG Postgraduate Conference, Durham University
52. Smith, T. A. (2011) The student is not the fisherman, RGS Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group (GCYFRG) ‘Young People’s Identities’ Conference’, Plymouth University
53. Smith, T. A. (2010) Spaces of knowledge, participation and empowerment: young people as environmental actors in Tanzania, RGS-IBG, London.

Supervisions

I am interested in supervising PhD students in any of the following areas:

• The geographies of children, young people and educational spaces
• Environmental, outdoor and sustainability education
• Environmental conservation and sustainability, including sacred natural sites and witchcraft
• Work, employment, livelihoods and housing with an international focus
• Studies of social interaction, particularly in outdoor settings
• Heritage interpretation
• Navigation and outdoor skills

Current supervision

Rosie Havers

Research student

Nia Rees

Graduate Tutor