Mike Burns has an academic grounding in ecology and environmental science and holds a PhD degree in this field. He has more than 25 years of working experience in research and environmental management, mainly within the coastal zone. Over the past 10 years he has served as a lead environmental consultant to the oil and gas sector throughout Africa as well as for other extractive industries.

Dr Burns has been responsible for the design and implementation of numerous large integrated environmental projects for the oil and gas sector. In this regard, he has interacted with many of the large multinational oil companies as well as financial institutions such as the World Bank. Some examples of projects he has managed include: the environmental component of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of the Angola LNG project; the World Bank initiative aimed at privatizing the hydrocarbon-fuelled power generation sector in Mauritania; capacity-building initiatives in environmental assessment and management in a range of African countries; and compilation of the national oil spill contingency plan for Cameroon, which is linked to the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project. The science that is infused into consultancy activities such as these significantly differentiates his work.

His most important professional attribute is his understanding of both the objective and subjective vectors (science, economics, human values) that influence the oil and gas sector in Africa. It is with this understanding that he is currently making a significant contribution to an enlightened understanding within the oil and gas sector of its contribution to sustainable development in Africa.

Dr Burns is currently a senior researcher in CSIR’s newly established Sustainability Science Research Group.