Dr. Nicole Smith is an Honorary Research Fellow at CSRM focusing on artisanal and small-scale mining. Her PhD is in cultural anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where her thesis examined Maasai involvement with the tanzanite trade in northern Tanzania. Her research and applied areas of interest include gender, livelihoods, corporate social responsibility, gemstone mining, artisanal and small-scale mining, pastoralist societies, and migration. She has primarily worked in Sub-Saharan Africa and has experience in Latin America and Indonesia.

In addition to working on projects related to artisanal and small-scale mining at CSRM, Nicole teaches courses at the Colorado School of Mines and at the University of Colorado at Boulder and consults on a variety of projects in the extractive industries sector.