Dr Laura Smith

Profile

I am an interdisciplinary social scientist and Lecturer in Sustainability and Business. I joined the University of Leeds in 2012 as a part-time PhD researcher and Teaching Fellow in Global Development. My research examines the social justice and development dimensions of resource extraction, with a particular focus on how extraction projects shape development processes across different contexts and scales.

In 2019, I was appointed Lecturer in Sustainability and Business in the School of Earth and Environment, where I designed and developed modules for a digital MSc programme in Sustainable Business Leadership.

I serve as Deputy Chair of the cross-Faculty Research Ethics Committee (FREC) for Business, Environment, Social Sciences and Scholarship (BESS+). In this role, I support the Chair and committee in evaluating the ethical dimensions of proposed research and advise staff and students on the conduct and importance of ethically robust research and scholarship.

Prior to joining the University of Leeds, I worked in the third sector for ten years, including as a human rights campaigner and with an ethical trading NGO.

Responsibilities

• Deputy Chair of the BESS+ Research Ethics Committee
• Programme Co-Lead MSc Sustainable Business Leadership

Research interests

Current Research Projects

• Identifying and overcoming non-technical barriers to UK sourcing of critical minerals for net zero
• Critical Tungsten Futures: Socio-economic dynamics of EU and UK Tungsten mining
• Grounded Engagement: Understanding meaningful community engagement in mineral exploration
• Uganda’s Energy Transition Plan: Gender and Indigenous Knowledge as Pathways to a Just Future
• Sustainable Solution for Fluoride Removal and Recovery in Tanzanian Water

Areas for PhD supervision

I welcome enquiries for doctoral research projects that engage with the social justice implications of resource extraction and the challenges of sustainable and just energy transitions. This includes research on community engagement and the impacts of mining, as well as the socio-economic and political dynamics shaping critical mineral supply chains. I am also interested in projects addressing equity, gender and Indigenous knowledge, and in work that critically examines governance, ethics and non-technical barriers to responsible resource development.

Primary investigator (PI)

• Creating a low carbon, environmentally sustainable and socially just value chain for rare earth magnets
• Identifying and overcoming non-technical barriers to UK sourcing of critical materials for net zero

Qualifications

• PhD Sustainable Development (University of Leeds)
• MA Peace Studies (University of Bradford)
• BA Hons International Business Studies (University of Northumbria)

Professional memberships

• Fellow of Higher Education Academy

Student education

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Programme Co-Lead for the online MSc Sustainable Business Leadership, where I teach two of the core modules.

Research groups and institutes

• Sustainability Research Institute
• Social and Political Dimensions of Sustainability
• Geosolutions Leeds