[1] He is known for his research on fisheries economics, marine conservation, seafood markets, and climate change impacts on coastal areas.
For his Ph.D. thesis "Spatial Behavior, Marine Reserves, and the California Red Sea Urchin Fishery” he was awarded "outstanding dissertation" by the American Agricultural Economics Association.
He has published extensively on topics such as marine protected areas, individual fishing quotas, climate change adaptation in coastal zones, and seafood markets.
[13] Smith is known for combining economic theory and advanced econometric methods to analyze fisher behavior, evaluate policy impacts, and model coupled human-natural systems.
Together with Peter Giuliano and Mehran Sahami, he forms the band The Gland, which has released the album Ode to Mern Blenston.