Dr. Minerva Chaloping-March
A social scientist and community engagement advisor who has worked in Government, mining industry, communities, and academia. - documenting social investments in communities, transitions of mining- dependent communities and post-mine livelihood programs - requisites of environmental, social and governance in the extractive industry - a daughter of an underground copper miner, an Indigenous I-Maligcong Igorot (Cordillera, Philippines)
Biography
I have worked in the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, United Kingdom (Bristol and London), USA (coal mines in Montana), and Yunnan (southwest China) as:- researcher on indigenous land tenure, household labour allocation and small-scale mining
particularly in the Cordillera region, Northern Philippines
- consultant in social development and community affairs ensuring the implementation of
corporate communities policy (Rio Tinto Technical Services), research on cultural influences of
occupational health and safety
- trainer/lecturer and project manager in environmental management for local governments,
communities, and NGOs
- community engagement facilitator in cultural heritage protection.
Education
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PhD Development Studies, University of Melbourne, Australia
MPhil in Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge, UK
MA in Social & Dev't Studies, University of the Philippines
International Leadership, United Nations University - Amman
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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I provide research-based advice to industry (particularly mining companies), local government units, and community organizations in fulfilling commitments of respective parties to high-quality governance, ethical responsibility, transparency, and sustainability. The aim is ultimately for business organizations to listen to communities about their aspirations. As such, businesses can initiate or concretize and/or establish programs for empowering the communities and local governments that they work with in areas where they invest, and in societies that receive, directly or indirectly, adverse effects of business operations.
Personal Interests
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- community organizing activities
- participatory research
- cultural photography
Websites
Books
Articles
The mining policy of the Philippines and ‘resource nationalism’
Published: Dec 12, 2014 by Noumea, French New Caledonia
Authors: Minerva Chaloping-March
Subjects:
Area Studies, Asian Studies, Environment and Sustainability
The Mining Act of 1995 provides the regulatory framework for the operation of large-scale mining in the hope that substantial foreign capital is brought into government coffers. However, several local governments have blocked the entry of large-scale mining or forbidden open pit mining. Such action manifests sub-national resource nationalism that is founded on locality and affinity to homeland, divergent from the national government’s social imaginary.
News
Dr. Minerva Chaloping-March Speaks at the Conference of Asian Network of Industrial Heritage . July 2021
By: Dr. Minerva Chaloping-March
Subjects: Anthropology - Soc Sci, Environment and Sustainability
Dr. Chaloping-March presents a historical overview of the history (and legacy) of decades-old large-scale mining operations in the Philippines. She highlights the establishment, growth and evolution of huge communities of mine workers (with their families) populating the former hinterlands that gradually transformed into urban centres. Interestingly, a key non-tangible heritage derived from mining -- but much valued and prided -- is the education of thousands of children of mine workers...