He guided each one of us, as we grew from being fledgling nothings to becoming passionate and respected professionals.”. He also spearheaded the design and implementation of small, smart, fast, and cheap air sensors for people in low-income countries. “We met in Kabul. Berkeley Public Health Responds to COVID-19, Home / Our Faculty / Kirk Smith PhD, MPH, Professor (1995-2020) Global Environmental Health. He was a brilliant scientist, he taught every introductory class he was asked to teach, and he had a strong moral compass: He was always committed to doing the right thing. Smith led and contributed to the authorship of important chapters of  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, including on climate change health impacts, climate adaptation, and the so-called “co-benefits” of actions that can both improve health while slowing greenhouse gas emissions. Prof. Smith demonstrated that the highest exposures to air pollutants occur in rural, indoor settings in developing countries where biomass and coal are the principal fuels. “In 1972 we circled the globe together, stopping in many of the countries that he would return to in future years to advance the health of so many of the people who lived in them,” said Maizlish. He was an environmental titan who championed the poor and disenfranchised, especially rural women and children in the developing world. PROF. KIRK R. SMITH (January 19, 1947 - June 15, 2020) The Institute mourns the passing of Prof. Kirk R. Smith, Nobel Prize winning environmental scientist and pioneering researcher on the health and climate effects of household energy use in developing nations. University of California, BerkeleySchool of Public Health2121 Berkeley Way, Room 5302Berkeley, CA 94720-7360. To make a gift to the School of Public Health in memory of Kirk Smith, please go to give.berkeley.edu/kirksmith. Kirk R. Smith was a Professor of Global Environmental Health and dedicated his research to environmental and health issues in developing countries, particularly those related to health-damaging and climate-changing air pollution. Smith was a professor of global environmental health at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and director of the Collaborative Clean Air Policy Centre in New Delhi. “That’s the kind of person he was. One of Smith’s most important legacies is the generations of scientists in the United States and around the globe that he trained not only in doing robust and innovative science but also in translating that research into practical actions. He held a professorship in Global Environmental Health at the University of California, Berkeley, where his research focused on the relationships among environmental quality, health, resource use, climate, development, and policy in developing countries. Nearly 2.4 billion people worldwide rely on firewood and charcoal for cooking, resulting in emissions of fine particulate matter (“soot”) and CO2, forest degradation, and destructive climate change. In addition to sharing a Nobel Prize, Smith received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement—often called “The Nobel for the environment”—in 2012 and a Heinz Award in Environment in 2009. Jovanka Beckles has won major legislative victories as an elected official and the only candidate with ideas bold enough for the current moment. Smith lived in Oakland and Piedmont until he was 11 years old when the family moved to San Anselmo in Marin County. In 1997, Smith was elected as a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors awarded to US Scientists by their peers. He conducted field research on air pollution, both ambient and in households, in more than 20 countries of Asia and Latin America. This obituary was originally published on the School of Public Health’s website. “Kirk showed an overwhelming commitment to the poor and the planet, and in fact showed us how we were failing both,” said Professor Justin Remais, head of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at Berkeley Public Health, who first met Professor Smith as a Berkeley undergraduate in 1998. In his later years, Smith focused on his work in India, especially nurturing the work of public health experts in that country. For this work, he shared in the Nobel Peace Prize that the IPCC, alongside Vice President Al Gore, received in 2007. Fundraisers launched for funeral, family of Sereinat’e Henderson https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/10/24/sereinate-henderson-fundraisers-funeral-son, If you are filling out your #Berkeley #Elections2020 ballot this weekend, be sure to check out our coverage of the local races. Smith was a professor of global environmental health at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and director of the Collaborative Clean Air Policy Centre in New Delhi. Kirk Smith was born January 19, 1947, in Berkeley to Robert Nisbet, an attorney who was the first general manager of AC transit, and Ruth Smith, an alumna of Reed College. He earned three degrees from UC Berkeley: a bachelor of arts in physics and astronomy in 1968, a master of public health in environmental health sciences in 1972, and a doctorate in biomedical and environmental health with a focus on energy and environment in 1977. “He talked his parents into scuba diving lessons at age 12, a sport he loved throughout his life.”. Kirk R. Smith was Professor of Global Environmental Health and Director of the Collaborative Clean Air Policy Centre, New Delhi. He served on a number of national and international scientific advisory committees including the Global Energy Assessment, National Research Council’s Board on Atmospheric Science … “Kirk showed an overwhelming commitment to the poor and the planet, and in fact showed us how we were failing both,” said Professor Justin Remais, head of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at Berkeley Public Health, who first met  Smith as a Berkeley undergraduate in 1998. “The world has just lost one of its greatest public health heroes,” said Lu. For more than 40 years, Smith had been at the forefront of efforts to understand the causes and reach of deadly air pollution—and to do something about it. “He is literally the most important person in the world in what we call household air pollution,” said colleague and friend John Balmes, director of Berkeley Public Health’s Joint Medical Program.