Michael Main has a PhD in anthropology from the Australian National University. Michael’s doctoral research focussed on the Huli-speaking population of Hela Province in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) highlands, with a particular focus on armed conflict and gender-based violence. Michael’s research in Hela has also focused on the social and cultural impact of the Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas project. Michael has a professional background in geology and environmental science, which has provided the basis for his interest in the anthropology of development and resource extraction, and associated social instability. In 2014 Michael completed a Master of Development Studies at The University of Melbourne, where he undertook field research on the environmental consequences of PNG’s Ok Tedi mine and the impact on West Papuan refugees living on the Fly River downstream from the mine.

Michael works closely with grassroots peace-building organisations in Hela Province and his current research is focused on sorcery and witchcraft accusations and associated violence in the northern part of Hela.

Applied Anthropology, Conflict Resolution, Environmental Anthropology, Indigenous Agency, Inequality, Land Ownership, Papua New Guimea, Resource Extraction, Violent Conflict, Sorcery And Related Violence

Environmental sciences

Australian Anthropological Society (AAS)
Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO)

Melanesia

20th century
21st century
The Colonial time

Huli