Jennifer Hinton

Jennifer Hinton has a PhD in Mining Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on improving the productivity, working conditions, and livelihood security of artisanal and small-scale miners in East Africa and elsewhere. Her aim of showing the profitability and safety of small-scale mining to the local community, government, and private sector has lead to her purchasing her own gold-lead-silver mine in Western Uganda. She has also worked on various projects to increase the recognition of gender issues in artisanal mining. Currently, she is working on setting up a fair trade gold certification system for Uganda, linking miners directly to national or international markets. In addition to her work in artisanal mining, she has consulted, researched and published on topics ranging from the remediation of mercury contaminated sites and biological indicators of metals pollution in the environment, to innovative mine closure alternatives and the incorporation of environmental and social factors into mine planning.