Affiliated Scholars and Practitioners
Dr. Paul Bozek
Paul Bozek is an Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream) in the Division of Occupational & Environmental Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. He is program director for the Master of Public Health field in occupational hygiene. As an occupational hygienist and professional engineer for over 25 years, his teaching and research interests are in worker exposure assessment and control for disease prevention. Recently, Paul has been collaborating with Workplace Health Without Borders on projects in India. These include reducing silicosis incidence among Agate processors in Khambat, India and more recently, on dust and noise exposures for gemstone processors in Jaipur, India.
Dr. Brian Brazeal
Dr. Brian Brazeal has conducted research on the global trade in gemstones since 2007. He has undertaken ethnographic fieldwork at major gemstone mining sites in Brazil, Zambia, Colombia and Mozambique. He has also conducted fieldwork with gemstone traders in Jaipur, Tel Aviv, Bangkok and New York. As an Associate Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Chico, Dr. Brazeal directs the Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology, a facility dedicated to documentary film production. In 2016, he completed a film on the international emerald trade titled, “Illusions in Stone.” His written work has explored has explored the themes of economic ethics, the role of religion in the emerald trade and the legacy of violence around Colombia’s emerald mines.
Benjamin Guttery
Benjamin Guttery, is known as “@ThirdCoastGems” across multiple social media platforms, a reference to his home state of Texas. As a Brand Advocate, he spotlights emerging & established designers alike and the boutiques that partner with them, through his contagious passion for jewelry and colored jewels. With his knowledge from being a Gemological Institute of America Graduate Gemologist and Accredited Jewlery Professional, he also help consumers understand more about the trade, colored gemstones, and designer jewlery. JCK, INSTORE, and INDESIGN magazines have recognized and featured him on several occasions throughout his career. He has also served on INSTORE magazine’s Style Council and as a Judge for their “America’s Coolest Stores” issue. Follow him on Instagram at @ThirdCoastGems to see his travels nationwide and beyond to seek out the best in fine designer jewelry and gemstones.
Estelle Levin-Nally
Estelle Levin-Nally is an internationally recognized leader in Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) and responsible sourcing. She has more than 14 years’ experience in supply chain due diligence, conflict-affected and high-risk areas, conservation, and raw materials. She works with governments, NGOs and businesses to deliver discrete and commercially astute solutions that generate positive impacts all along raw materials supply chains. In 2016, Estelle initiated The GIFF Project: an initiative to deepen the understanding of illicit financial flows linked to Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining, in collaboration with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime. In 2010, Estelle developed the ASM-PACE initiative in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and other international conservation NGOs, to address ASM in protected areas and critical ecosystems. The resulting programme focused on building stakeholder knowledge and capacity for tackling issues, with a focus on human rights, corruption, security and governance. Estelle is the Founder and Director of the social venture and consultancy Levin Sources. She has spoken at high profile events and conferences around the world, been an expert participant in a number of panels and knowledge sharing initiatives and has contributed to numerous articles, book chapters and reports.
Mbih Paul Kemeng
Mbih Paul Kemeng has an M.S. in Geology from the University of Yaounde, Cameroon. He works with the Department of Geology in the Ministry of Mines Industry and Technological Development, Cameroon. He is the author of "Chemistry and origin of the Mayo Kila sapphires, NW region Cameroon (Central Africa): Their possible relationship with the Cameroon volcanic line"
Dr. Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt
Dr. Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt is an Associate Professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University. Dr. Kuntala’s research is on the interface of gender, the environment and natural resource management in developing countries, primarily in India. Dr. Kuntala has also carried out field-based research in Indonesia, Lao PDR and Mongolia. Dr. Kuntala’s publications include Dancing with the River: People and Lives on the Chars in South Asia (co-authored, Yale University Press, 2013); The Coal Nation (Ashgate, 2014); Gendering the Field: Towards Sustainable Livelihoods for Mining Communities (edited, ANU Press, 2011); Women Miners in Developing Countries: Pit Women and Others (co-edited, Ashgate, 2006). More about Dr. Kuntala’s work is available on her staffpage https://crawford.anu.edu.au/people/academic/kuntala-lahiri-dutt.
Charles Lawson
Charles Lawson, Director of Lawson Gems, is an experienced geologist and gemologist based in Brisbane, Australia. Charles holds a Bachelor of Science in the Field of Geology and is an Alumnus of the GIA (Gemological Institute of America), Gem-A (Gemmological Association of Great Britain) and is a committee member and alumni of the GAA (Gemological Association of Australia). With over twelve years in the trade he has worked in almost all facets of the industry from exploration geology, to jewellery manufacturing to gemstone trading. Over the past four years he has conducted numerous research and training projects in Madagascar within the mining industry with support from the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, the Gemstone and Sustainable Development Knowledge Hub and the Australian and German governments. These have focused on local empowerment and sustainability. Charles now specializes not only in the trading of gemstones but also education and film-making in gemmology with the aim of bringing a better understanding of the gemstone industry to the world at large. Through such work over the last six years he is now a specialist in the field of social media marketing within the niche of colored gems.
Dr. Cigdem Lule
Dr. Lule is a research gemologist, mineralogist and educator. She is the owner of Kybele LLC consulting firm based in Illinois, USA. As an independent researcher, she has dedicated a large part of her career to archaeogemology; the identification of gem findings from archaeological sites, with an emphasis on origin investigation. Her consultation services also incorporate developing tailored education for the gem professionals, appraisers, gemologists and gemology students. She currently serves as a consultant to Gemworld International, as well as a contributing editor to the GemGuide. She is the technical advisor to the World of Color communication system. Dr. Lule’s professional education includes BSc. in Geo Engineering and MSc. in Mineralogy from Ankara University, Turkey; PhD. in Mineralogy from Hacettepe University, Turkey; Diploma in Gemmology and Diamond Diploma from Gem-A and Graduate Gemologist diploma from GIA. In 2016, she was awarded the prestigious Antonio C. Bonanno Excellence in Gemology Award.
Dr. Muhammad Makki
Dr. Muhammad Makki, is assistant professor at the Centre for International Peace and Stability (CIPS), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan. He received his Doctorate from the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM), The University of Queensland (Australia) having completed a research study on coal seam gas (CSG) and community conflict in the Western Downs of Queensland, Australia. He has earned a Master Degree (MSc) in Energy Management from The University of Nordland, Norway. As a part of his degree he was on exchange with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Russia; and University of Texas Austin, USA. His research work focuses on extractive industry and local development impacts, socio-economic impacts, politics of resistance and sociological aspects of contention over extractive resource development.
Dr. Harmony Musiyarira
Associate Professor Harmony Musiyarira is the head of the Department of Mining and Process Engineering (DMPE) at Namibia University of Science and Technology. DMPE is working towards introducing gemmology education in Namibia. In 2016, Dr Musiyarira successfully led a consortium of local and international partners in developing the Growth Strategy for coloured gemstones, jewellery, and related industry in Namibia. The growth strategy was endorsed by the Ministry of Industrialisation Trade and SME Development and is being implemented under its “Growth at Home Strategy”. Associate Professor Musiyarira holds a Ph.D. degree in Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand and Masters as well as an Honours degree in Metallurgy from the University of Zimbabwe. He is an external examiner for Ph.D. students at the University of Johannesburg and as well as a reviewer for research grants for National Research Fund in South Africa and the National Commission of Research Science and Technology (NCRST) in Namibia. His research interests are in the areas of minerals processing, industrial minerals, small scale mining, mine water management, and cleaner production application in the minerals industry.
Dr. Aaron Palke
Dr. Aaron Palke is a Senior Research Scientist at the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, California. The scientific study of gemstones and gem deposits was a natural outlet for Aaron's lifelong passion for rocks and minerals. His research is mainly focused on using inclusions, trace element chemistry, and spectroscopy to understand the geological origin of gems. Aaron has found the study of inclusions especially fruitful as they provide an unparalleled time-capsule of the geological conditions of formation for these valuable gems. Working at GIA provides the additional opportunity to focus this research onto improving geographic country of origin determination for gemstones with a specific emphasis on ruby, sapphire, and emerald.
Vincent Pardieu
Vincent Pardieu is since Jan 2017 a Consultant Field Gemmologist at “VP Consulting SPC”. From 2008 to 2017 he was Senior Manager, Field Gemology at the GIA where he built and managed the first field gemology department in any modern gem laboratory. Previously he was a staff and research gemmologist at the Gübelin Gem Laboratory where he lead four field expeditions to pearl and gemstone deposits in Tanzania, Madagascar and Burma. From 2004-2007 he was Laboratory Director at the AIGS in Bangkok where he published several research papers on new treatments and led two 3-month long field expeditions to Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan. With a career thus far that has seen him lead 112 field expedition to colored stones mining areas around the world, he is internationally renowned for his dedication to all things related to gemology and conservation, he has published prolifically on all aspects of the subject in a host of different hard as well as web-based publications, the main ones of which can be found on his Research Gate profile.
Dr. Nicole Smith
Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Mining Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines. She is a cultural anthropologist with research interests in artisanal and small-scale mining; mining, sustainability, and social responsibility; and rural livelihoods and mining developments. She has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Prior to her position in the Mining Engineering Department, she was a post-doctoral scholar in the Humanitarian Engineering Program at Mines. She has also held a position as a research fellow at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining at the Sustainable Minerals Institute at the University of Queensland. Dr. Smith holds a PhD in Anthropology and a certificate in Development Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder where her research focused on Maasai tanzanite traders in northern Tanzania. She holds a master’s degree in anthropology from Colorado State University and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Monica Dominguez Torres
Dr. Dominguez-Torres is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Delaware. She has published extensively on the art of the early modern Iberian world, with a particular focus on the cross-cultural exchanges that took place across Spain and the Americas during the period 1500-10. Her current book project, Pearls for the Crown: European Courtly Art and the Rise of the Atlantic Pearl Trade, 1498-1720, examines a selection of images and collectibles related to the Atlantic pearl industry, paying particular attention to the interplay between materialism, labor, and consumption that drove their production.
Herizo Harimalala Tsiverisoa
Mrs. Tsiverisoa is a geologist and a Lapidary trainer. She has been working as the head of ‘Lapidary and Jewellery’ department of the ‘Institut de Gemmologie de Madagascar’ for 12 years. Her research focuses on capacity building as well as the conception of all projects aiming to support, develop the ASM sector in collaboration with associations of miners, and professionals on gemstones. In 2015, she was a member of a team, which delivered a training of trainers program for the women in mining in Ilakaka Madagascar. The project aimed to emancipate the position of women in the sapphire business to improve the income and sustainable impacts of sapphire fever for women. This project was developed with the CSRM Australia and local volunteers, and supported by the IM4DC. As a gemstone trainer specialist, her roles were to identify the training program appropriate to the target, develop and deliver the courses, and follow up the progress of the targeted community. Recently, she was a part of an economic empowerment program for women in opal mining in Ethiopia. She occupied the position of gemstone trainer specialist and her main tasks were to design a training program adequate to the women’s profile, deliver the training, and strengthen the association of women on the opal market.