This book considers the most contemporary innovations propelling the extractive industries forward while also creating new environmental and social challenges. The socio-ecological fabric of innovation in the extractive industries is considered through an integrative approach that brings together engineers, natural scientists, and social scientists--academics and practitioners--giving an empirically grounded and realistic evaluation of the innovations in this sector. It synthesizes a series of questions including:
About the Author:

Martin J. Clifford is a postdoctoral researcher in Energy and Environmental Policy at the Department of Geography, University of Delaware, USA. His work focuses on the socioeconomic and environmental dynamics of large and small-scale extractive industries, particularly in lower-income countries. Much of his empirical work in this regard took place in Ghana and Guyana. This ties into his broader interests in international development and sustainable natural resource management. Much of his recent scholarship has focused on the Minamata Convention on mercury reduction and its impact on the gold mining sector. Dr. Clifford has also completed a study on pathways for socio-ecological resilience in small-island developing states with extractive resources, focusing on the island nation of Nauru. This work was supported by the Pavetta Foundation. He earned a PhD and MSc in International Development from the University of Reading and University of Manchester, respectively.

Prior to joining the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia as an Associate Professor in 2011, Robert K. Perrons worked in a wide variety of roles and locations for Shell International's Exploration & Production division. He started his career in Shell's Strategy & Economics team in 1997, and then worked for several years as a production engineer in the company's overseas operations (offshore and onshore). He then left Shell for three years to work as an Industrial Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, but re-joined Shell again in 2004 to become the company's Executive Coordinator of R&D. He earned a B.Eng. in mechanical engineering from McMaster University in Canada, a Master's degree in Technology & Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a PhD in engineering from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. He is a Fellow of both the UK's Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and Engineers Australia, and is chartered as a Eur. Ing. in Europe. He continues to stay connected to the University of Cambridge as an Affiliated Researcher, and is an advisor to MIT's Mining, Oil & Gas Club. In addition to his QUT position, Rob serves the Australian Government on an ad hoc basis as a member of their "Expert Network." His duties in this role include providing advice about the energy industry and emerging innovations in that sector, with the overarching objective of accelerating the commercialization of promising new energy technologies.

Saleem H. Ali holds the Blue and Gold Distinguished Professorship in Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware, where he also directs the Gemstones and Sustainable Development Knowledge Hub, supported by the Tiffany & Co Foundation. He is also a Senior Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Sustainable Investment. Professor Ali has held the Chair in Sustainable Resources Development at the University of Queensland's Sustainable Minerals Institute in Brisbane, Australia (where he retains professorial affiliation). His books include　Treasures of the Earth: Need, Greed and a Sustainable Future, (Yale Univ. Press);　Environmental Diplomacy　(with Lawrence Susskind, Oxford Univ. Press) and　Mining, the Environment and Indigenous Development Conflicts　(Univ. of Arizona Press). Corporate and government experience includes employment in General Electric's Technical Leadership Program; a Baker Foundation Fellowship at Harvard Business School and a Research Internship at the UK House of Commons. He　is a member of the United Nations International Resource Panel; was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011; and received an Emerging Explorer award from the National Geographic Society in 2010. He　received his doctorate in Environmental Planning from MIT, a Master's degree in Environmental Studies from Yale University and Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Tufts University (summa cum laude).　

Dr. Tim A. Grice is an Honorary Senior Fellow at The University of Queensland's Sustainable Minerals Institute and Founding Director at Leapfrog International, a social impact company working for sustainable prosperity. Working across the private sector, public sector and civil society in Asia Pacific, South America and Africa, Tim has led programs in leadership and governance, community health, education, law and justice, financial inclusion, small and medium enterprise development, institutional strengthening, community infrastructure development and corporate social responsibility. He has also worked across a range of organisational development programs in the areas of strategic planning, organisational design, leadership and team development, and human capital development. Tim's recent projects include a leadership and governance capacity building program through the Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct, a project on development minerals in Zambia for the United Nations Development Programme, strategic planning with The University of Papua New Guinea, a study on the non-fiscal costs and benefits of the extractive sector for the Natural Resource Governance Institute, a World Bank funded scoping study for a Natural Resources Independent Advisory Centre in Solomon Islands, a sustainability review for Ivanhoe Mines in South Africa, and a project on mobile banking and financial inclusion funded by the International Mining for Development Centre.