Gavin Smith

Gavin Smith is a Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at North Carolina State University.  His teaching and research focus on hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, and climate change adaptation, including a focus on issues surrounding community-led relocation.  Educational efforts focus on the oversight and teaching of courses associated with a 13-credit graduate certificate titled Disaster Resilient Policy, Engineering, and Design.

Recent research involves developing a Coastal Hazard Overlay District Guide that visually depicts and describes 51 disaster-resilient design standards and planning techniques tied to community-led relocation, avoidance, protection, and accommodation-based strategies.  In addition, Dr. Smith is involved in cross-cultural research exploring lessons from the large-scale acquisition of hazard-prone housing in the US and New Zealand that can be used to inform community-led relocation programs in both countries.  This work has evolved into the development of an International Community of Practice spanning partners in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. As part of a research team, Smith has completed a National Academy of Science report focused on assessing community-led relocation strategies in Gulf Coast states and served as an author of the 5^th U.S. National Climate Assessment.

Dr. Smith has written the text Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery: A Review of the United States Disaster Assistance Framework (Island Press, 2011) and served as the co-editor of the text Adapting to Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Hazards Planning (Springer, 2014) as well as writing numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and practice-oriented reports.  Smith’s past research includes a six-year study assessing the quality of state and local hazard mitigation plans, assessing the state of disaster-resilient design education at U.S. Universities, and a national survey assessing the role of states in building the capacity of local governments to implement hazard mitigation grants.

Smith has also served as a policy advisor to several nations, states, and local governments addressing planning for post-disaster recovery, flood-hazard risk reduction, and climate change adaptation and has testified before Congress, state legislatures, and international committees.  Dr. Smith has advised four governors, including Governor Hunt following Hurricanes Fran and Floyd and Governor Barbour following Hurricane Katrina.  During Hurricanes Fran and Floyd, Smith led teams responsible for the acquisition and elevation of more than 5,000 and 500 homes, respectively.  In addition, Smith led a team of eight faculty, eighteen graduate students, and two practitioners to assist six hard-hit low-capacity communities following Hurricane Matthew in 2014.  This effort, which lasted more than two years, focused on addressing local needs not addressed by FEMA or the State of North Carolina.  Examples include identifying multiple uses for land acquired through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, conducting land suitability analyses to identify locations suitable for the construction of replacement housing outside the floodplain within the boundaries of towns participating in the buyout, assessing possible flood-proofing techniques for historic downtowns, creating architectural renderings of replacement housing, and developing disaster recovery plans.