Nigel is an Economist from Queensland University of Technology, with a Master’s in Social Development from The University of Melbourne, both in Australia. Additionally, he is completing his Ph.D, through the Sustainable Minerals Institute of The University of Queensland, Australia. He has led various projects in government, academic and private sector organizations, as well as contributed to the social development of vulnerable communities in various countries such as Australia, Scotland and Argentina. His areas of expertise are the design, implementation and/or evaluation of projects that support the social development of vulnerable communities.

Currently, he is working at SMI-ICE-Chile conducting research in areas of social risk in the mining sector. In parallel he is working on his Ph.D thesis examining how the concept of free, prior and informed consent is applied between indigenous peoples and the mining industry in Chile, with the Pascua Lama case study.