Dr Lynda Lawson
Dr Lynda Lawson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Global Centre for Mineral Security at the Sustainable Minerals Institute at The University of Queensland. Her PhD awarded in 2020, examined Opportunities and challenges for women’s’ empowerment in the gemstone value chain in Madagascar and Thailand. Lynda continues her research and practice to advocate on behalf of women in ASM (Artisanal and small-scale mining) in particular in relation to women’s health and safety, women’s role in climate smart mining and the circular economy and opportunities for women’s entrepreneurship in the ASM value chain and in mineral security.
Lynda is also a teacher and knowledge transfer specialist and has designed and led training and train the trainer programs in the extractive industry in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America. She is especially interested in miner-led education. She designed the knowledge transfer component of the Award-Winning Delve Exchange, an online network to facilitate knowledge sharing and support between ASM associations, ASM communities and quarry workers and the miner-led ASM Academy. Her design of the knowledge transfer component of the Delve Exchange and of the ASM Academy including her mentoring of local coordinators across the globe, has been an important part of the success of this network, which has already grown to 3000 members across 70 countries.
Lynda has extensive experience in Africa, having designed and led Short Course programs for DFAT’s Australia Awards for Africa eight times.
She has worked for many years in Higher Education and the corporate training space both in Australia and overseas. She worked as the Training and Knowledge Transfer Manager at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) in the Sustainable Minerals Institute for 9 years overseeing the development of a range of online training programmes such as the Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management in the Australian Resources Sector.
She speaks fluent French and has a particular interest in mining and development in Francophone Africa and Togo in particular.
Lynda is a UQ mental health champion.