Working at Rothamsted inspired him to embark on a career in plant sciences and he obtained university entrance qualifications through ‘day-release’ and evening classes at Luton College of Technology.

Smith returned to the UK to study for a PhD under the supervision of Professor R. John Ellis, at the University of Warwick during which time he conducted some of his research at the Plant Breeding Institute, in Cambridge.

He served the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council as a Teaching Quality Assessor and was External Examiner at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore.

Following the award of an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship in 2004, Smith moved to the University of Western Australia and became Winthrop Professor of Plant Genomics.

In Edinburgh in the pre-genomics era, he collaborated with Chris Leaver and cloned several key enzymes of plant metabolism, including malate synthase, isocitrate lyase and PEP carboxykinase.

Together they obtained funding, created the plants and showed that they could report rapid calcium signalling in response to cold, fungi, touch and wind.

[15] This response to karrikins is a specific evolutionary adaption of numerous fire-following plant species, providing them with the opportunity to grow and reproduce successfully in the post-fire environment.