Vaclav Smil has authored 35 books and over 400 papers in the subjects of materials, energy, environmental and population change, food production and nutrition, technical innovation, risk assessment, and public policy. His research interests are diverse and include a variety of disciplines. He is a Member of the Order of Canada, a member of the Royal Society of Canada (Science Academy), and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. Foreign Policy named him one of the top 100 global thinkers in 2010. He was the first non-American to receive the American Association for the Advancement of Science Prize for Public Understanding of Science and Technology. He has served as a consultant for several US, EU, and international agencies, and has spoken at approximately 400 conferences and workshops in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Finally, in a Wired.com story in 2013, he had the honor of having Bill Gates say, There is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil.