Our Team

We are a team from interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary disciplines: Mineral and Mining Engineering, Environmental and Safety Engineering, Public Health, Medicine, Economics, Geography, Development Studies, Sociology, Social Policy, Water Science and Policy, etc.

Dr Francis Arthur-Holmes

Founder, Chief Executive and Research and Innovation

Dr Francis Arthur-Holmes is a Senior Research Fellow in Sustainability at the Agile Centre for Equitable Sustainability (ACES) in the Faculty of Business and Law, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom. He holds a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from Lingnan University, Hong Kong. He was a visiting PhD scholar at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. He had a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Occupational and Environmental Health from Harvard University, United States, and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in Development Studies from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. His current research interests and expertise revolve around Safety and health in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM); sustainability innovations and mining practices; circular economy (CE) and tailings management; and gender dimensions, socioeconomic assessment, and futures of ASM in developing countries. According to the Stanford University and Elsevier rankings for 2025, Francis is ranked among the top 2% of scientists worldwide in the fields of Public Health and Health Services, and Environmental Sciences. He has published over 75 articles in top-ranked journals across the development, public health, and environmental science/management fields, including Journal of Environmental Management, Environmental Science and Policy, World Development, Resources Policy, BMC Public Health, Journal of Public Health, Journal of Rural Studies and The Extractive Industries and Society, etc. He has engaged with international organisations, for example, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) on multidimensional poverty analysis.

Gloria Mensah (Ch.FE, Ch. EE)

Secretary

Gloria serves as Secretary for Presbon Safe, bringing a vital economic and managerial lens to our mission of safeguarding artisanal mining communities. A Chartered Financial Economist and Chartered Energy Economist, Gloria ensures our fiscal and operational governance supports sustainable impact. With an MSc in Economics and Development Economics from the University of Nottingham and master’s degrees in Business Management from the Hong Kong Baptist University and HR and Organisational Behaviour from Lingnan University, Gloria possesses a deep understanding of the economic drivers and organizational behaviours within resource communities. Gloria’s current PhD research at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability focuses on energy transitions and the bioeconomy, providing a critical framework for Presbon Safe’s work - guiding strategies that not only mitigate mining risks but also foster resilient, low-carbon livelihoods through clean technology adoption and sustainable land restoration, directly informing our strategies for promoting mercury-free technologies and resilient livelihoods. Gloria is dedicated to applying rigorous economic and management principles to create tangible improvements in miner health, safety, and environmental restoration.

Dr Godfred Amankwaa

Research and Innovation – Co-Director

Godfred Amankwaa (PhD) is an applied researcher, Technical and Policy Specialist in Water, Digital and Sustainable futures. He holds a PhD from the University of Manchester and an MSc from the University of Oxford. He has vast expertise in the science-policy, utilities and development space, with over 8years of experience researching and working on projects in Africa, Europe (UK) and Asia, and has also consulted for International development and research institutions such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Godfred’s overarching research interests and expertise revolve around water management and environmental risk governance, water science and policy, digital innovations, sustainability, urban infrastructures, WASH, and sustainable development. A key strand of his work addresses questions around the socio-technicality, socio-materiality and politics of sustainability transformations, socio-technical transitions, environmental technologies and digital innovations. He also focuses on practical questions of global challenges such as water and environmental risks, ecological toxicities and identifying pathways for change and sustainable futures.

Dr Kwaku Abrefa Busia

Programmes, Development and Welfare - Director

Kwaku Abrefa Busia, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow (research assistant professor) at the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. He also doubles as a research associate at the Department of Sociology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. His research focuses on gender and social inequalities, work-family interface, family studies, youth and the sociology of development (including the small-scale mining sector in Africa and community development). He is an Early Career Fellow of the Work and Family Researchers’ Network (WFRN), USA.

Jennifer Dokbila Mengba

Women and the ASM programmes - Director

Dr Thomas Yeboah

Community Relations and Stakeholder Engagement – Director

Thomas Yeboah holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, UK and has 15 years’ experience working on issues around international development, migration and development, migration governance, youth and gender dynamics of rural livelihoods with special focus on youth employment in both rural and urban areas. Thomas’ research also focuses youth livelihood particularly their engagement in Artisanal small scale mining in the rural economy, and lived realities in the realm of social and spatial mobilities, youth imagined futures as well as how young people engage in the rural economy and its potential to provide decent and sustainable employment. His methodological expertise spans participatory qualitative and visual methods.

Dr Isaac K. Ofori

Economic Models and Statistics – Director

Dr Isaac K. Ofori is a Development Economist at Technological University Dublin (Ireland), and serves as a Research Fellow of the EU-Mediterranean and African Network for Economic Studies (Spain). Dr Ofori combines data science, econometrics, and machine learning to generate policy-relevant evidence that informs interventions aimed at advancing social progress. A central strand of his work focuses on measuring and tracking countries’ performance in inclusive green growth. His current research agenda centres on innovation, impact evaluation, green transition, and inclusive green growth. Recent publications from this agenda have appeared in leading journals such as World Development, Ecological Economics, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Empirical Economics, International Economics, and Economic Systems. Isaac holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Insubria (Italy) and an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cape Coast (Ghana). He was a Visiting Scholar at York University, Toronto (Canada), and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany), and previously worked with Ghana’s Ministry of Finance as Economic Planning Officer.