Mark Smith

Director General, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Ex Officio member of the WLE Independent Steering Committee

Dr. Mark Smith was appointed Director General of IWMI by its Board of Governors commencing 17 August 2020. He was formerly IWMI’s Deputy Director General – Research for Development, and brings more than 25 years of research and program management experience in water resources, agriculture, climate and sustainability. 

He was formerly Director – Global Water Programme, and Manager for Organizational Change at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and a Governor at the World Water Council. He has led innovative, multi-regional programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America addressing river basin management, climate change adaptation and nature-based solutions, and transboundary cooperation in water management. 

He has a doctorate in ecology and resource management from the University of Edinburgh and a master’s in climatology from the University of Guelph.

Content authored by Mark Smith