Prof. Glenn Banks
Glenn Banks is an Aotearoa New Zealand academic. Banks gained a PhD from The Australian National University, Canberra in 1997. He taught for 11 years in Geography at UNSW (ADFA, Canberra), and moved to Massey University in 2008. Banks is currently a full professor of geography at Massey University. He served as Head of School (People, Environment and Planning) between 2016-2022.
His thesis and early research career was primarily focused on the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of large-scale mining in Papua New Guinea, framed by theoretical concerns with community development, local agency and empowerment. He has been involved in policy work and discussions at the local, national and regional level, including leading a 2014 UNDP National Human Development report in Papua New Guinea that focussed on translating mineral wealth into sustainable human development, and providing advice on mineral policy in the Solomon Islands and Fiji. Banks has also completed over 20 major consultancy reports for the mining industry in the Pacific on social and economic aspects of their operations, including social impact assessments, social baseline studies, social monitoring, risk assessments, inward migration plans, human rights and resettlement. He has become a leading commentator on and critic of recent Fast Track proposals related to mining in Aotearoa, arguing for the need for a more informed and realistic conversation around the mining sector, its contribution and its costs.
Over his career, he has published three books and over 50 articles on resource extraction with a focus on the Pacific region. His co-authored paper “Resource Wars: The anthropology of large-scale mining” is the most cited social science paper on the global mining sector. Banks has also published widely on geographies of wine, the politics of aid, and sustainable development. He is a recipient of three Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Funds for projects on aspects of Pacific development, and in 2020 received the New Zealand Geographical Society’s Distinguished Geographer medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to New Zealand Geography.
Glenn will presenting at Critical Minerals: At What Cost? on Te Taiao Day and joining the Evening Kōrero: The Age of Complexity panel at the Better Business Day at Wao Summit 2026.
