Rate My Professor Rob Smith

Dr Robert O. Smith is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marine Science at the University of Otago, where he lectures on physical oceanography within the Division of Sciences. He earned a BSc (Hons) from the University of Southampton in 2007 and a PhD from the University of Otago in 2018. His doctoral research investigated the roles of bathymetry and wind forcing in controlling the physical characteristics of the Subtropical Frontal Zone in the Tasman Sea. Smith leads the Physical Oceanography Group and co-ordinates courses such as MARI401 Advanced Methods in Marine Science. His career at Otago includes positions as Research Associate from 2019 and progression to Senior Lecturer.

Smith's research centers on meso- and submesoscale ocean processes, utilizing in-situ observations from ships, drifters, and moored instruments alongside satellite remote sensing. Key interests encompass oceanic front dynamics, shelf-slope exchange processes, flow-topography interactions, upper-ocean temperature variability including marine heatwaves, and regional oceanography of the western South Pacific. Current projects examine marine heatwaves around New Zealand for characteristics, drivers, and refugia; shelf-slope nutrient exchanges near submarine canyons; and the dynamics of fronts influencing air-sea interaction, biological activity, and predator foraging. He has published extensively, with an h-index of 18. Recent works include 'Migratory species strongly affect seabird biomass in seasonal assemblages off northeast Aotearoa/New Zealand' (Journal of Marine Systems, 2026, with Daudt et al.), 'Anthropogenically stimulated carbonate dissolution in the global shelf seafloor is potentially an important and fast climate feedback' (AGU Advances, 2026, with van de Velde et al.), 'Spiny rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) responses to marine heatwave conditions in southern New Zealand' (Marine Environmental Research, 2025, with Gnanalingam et al.), and 'Changing species occurrences in seasonal seabird assemblages at the Subtropical Frontal Zone' (Estuarine, Coastal & Shelf Science, 2025, with Daudt et al.). Influential earlier papers feature 'Climate impacts on global hot spots of marine biodiversity' (Science Advances, 2017, cited over 260 times) and contributions to studies on New Zealand's 2017-2018 coupled ocean-atmosphere heatwave (Environmental Research Letters, 2019). His findings advance knowledge of marine climate extremes, ecosystem responses, biogeochemical cycles, and physical drivers shaping New Zealand's coastal and open-ocean environments.