Rate My Professor Colin Filer

Colin Filer is an Associate Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University (ANU), a member of the Resources, Environment and Development group, and affiliated with the Department of Pacific Affairs in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. He is also an Honorary Professor in the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions. Filer holds a BA and a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge. His academic career began with teaching anthropology and sociology at the University of Glasgow from 1975 to 1982, followed by positions at the University of Papua New Guinea from 1983 to 1994, during which he managed Unisearch PNG, the university's business arm, from 1991 to 1994. From 1995 to 2000, he headed the Social and Environmental Studies Division at the Papua New Guinea National Research Institute. Between 2001 and 2012, he served as Convenor of the Resource Management in Asia-Pacific Program in ANU's College of Asia and the Pacific.

Filer's research specializations center on the social context, organization, and impact of policies, programs, and projects in the mining, petroleum, forestry, and conservation sectors, with particular reference to Papua New Guinea and other parts of Melanesia. He has edited several major publications, including Small Islands in Peril? Island Size and Island Lives in Melanesia (ANU Press, 2024), Large-scale Mines and Local-level Politics: Between New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea (ANU Press, 2017), Kastom, Property and Ideology: Land Transformations in Melanesia (ANU Press, 2017), Tropical Forests of Oceania: Anthropological Perspectives (ANU Press, 2015), and Dilemmas of Development: The Social and Economic Impact of the Porgera Gold Mine, 1989-2004 (ANU Press, 2012). Recent works include the article "Contested Masculinities in the Exploration Phase of the Lihir Gold Mine, Papua New Guinea" in Extractive Industries and Society (2025) and multiple chapters in Small Islands in Peril? (2024). He has served on key committees, including WWF Australia’s Scientific Advisory Committee (2002–2007), the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Sub-Global Working Group (2002–2004), the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project Assurance Group (2001–2002), the PNG National Economic and Fiscal Commission (1998–1999), and the PNG National Forestry and Conservation Action Program Steering Committee (1990–1992).