Awards & Publications

Awards & Grants

U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Norway: US$10,000 grant for a research paper on corruption in community development and CSR programmes around mining.

NSW Dept of Premier & Cabinet: US$7,000 for a Travelling Fellowship 2008 for researching methods for governance training in Indigenous organisations in Canada.

American Library Association: Best Academic Title Award, 2006, for The Democratic Republic of Congo: Economic Dimensions of War and Peace (Lynne Rienner Press, Boulder, 2006).

World Bank 2002: Study Tour Fellowship for conference and tour of artisanal and small-scale mining, Peru.

Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation 2001 (funds research on violence): New York City: Doctoral Thesis Writing Fellowship.

Books

Cold Case North.  The search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett, with Deanna Reder and Eric Bell (University of Regina Press, forthcoming 2020). Click here.

  • “Like too many cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous people, authorities failed to ensure that Brady and Halkett’s deaths were properly investigated. This book helps get to the bottom of the fate of these two men, and demonstrates why investigators should never dismiss the knowledge of Indigenous peoples” – Darren Prefontaine, author of Gabriel Dumont

Still a Pygmy: The unique memoir of one man’s fight to save his identity from extinction, Isaac Bacirongo & Michael Nest (Finch Publishing: Sydney, 2015). Click here.

  • “Bacirongo proudly stakes his claim for participation in this world” – Matt Doherty, Australasian Review of African Studies
  • “One of the most unusual and fascinating memoirs I have read” – Ross Fitzgerald, The Australian Newspaper

Coltan (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011). Click here.

  • “A highly informative account, challenging commonly held views” – Anke Hoeffler, University of Oxford
  • A ” brilliant primer” – John F. Clark, Florida International University
  • “A clear, thorough and urgent contribution to our understanding of what’s going on” – New Internationalist

The Democratic Republic of Congo: Economic Dimensions of War and Peace, M. Nest, with F. Grignon and E. Kisangani (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2006). Click here.

  • “A valuable contribution to our understanding of the political and economic dynamics in the DRC” – Denis M. Tull, Journal of Modern African Studies
  • “Grim – but necessary – reading for policy makers, academics and professionals alike” – Reuben Loffman, African Affairs

Articles, chapters and reviews

Mining and Manifestations of Underdevelopment.  A review of South Africa’s Gold Mines & the Politics of Silicosis (Jock McCulloch. James Currey, 2012) and From the Pit to the Market: Politics and the Diamond Economy in Sierra Leone (Diane Frost.  James Currey, 2012).  The Journal of African History, 55, 2014, pp 101-106.

Robert Waldersee and Michael Nest, Corruption risks in NSW Government procurement: the risk management challenge.  Journal of Chartered Secretaries Australia 64 (4) 2012, pp 207-211.

Review of The New Scramble for Africa (Pádraig Carmody; Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011).  In African Affairs, 111 no. 443, 2012, pp. 332-333.

From local-level violence to international relations theory: a journey through The Trouble with the Congo.  African Security Review, 20 no.2, 2011, pp. 66-72.

Review of Natural Resources and Conflict in Africa: The Tragedy of Endowment (Abiodun Alao, University of Rochester Press, 2007).  In African Studies Review, 53 no. 1, 2010, pp. 185-187, 2010.

Ambitions, Profits & Loss: Zimbabwean Economic Involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, African Affairs 100 no. 400, July 2001.

Overview of Development Assistance to East Timor, 1975-1999.  Chapter 10 in Survey of Economic and Social Conditions in East Timor, New York: Columbia University, 1999. Click here.

Selected reports

Preventing Corruption in Community Mineral Beneficiation Schemes (Bergen, Norway, (Bergen, Norway: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, forthcoming 2017).

Capacity Building for a Responsible Minerals Trade: Needs Assessment of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region’s Independent Minerals Chain Auditor (Kinshasa, D.R. Congo, USAID 2015).

Training Manual: Skills and Knowledge in Corruption Prevention (Dili, Timor-Leste: Anti-Corruption Commission, 2014).

Corruption Prevention Action Plan: 2014-2016 (Dili, Timor-Leste: Anti-Corruption Commission, 2014).

Corruption Risks in NSW Public Sector Procurement: The Management Challenge (Sydney: Independent Commission Against Corruption. 35 pages, 2012)

Investigation into corrupt conduct involving allegations involving fraud on two Sydney hospitals (Sydney, Independent Commission Against Corruption; Corruption prevention chapter, 2011)

Corruption Risks in NSW Public Sector Procurement: Consultation Paper (Sydney: ICAC. 28 pages, 2010)

Investigation into whether a Department of Corrective Services correctional officers and others supplied contraband to inmates (Sydney: ICAC Corruption prevention chapter: 8 pages, 2010)

Corruption risks in NSW public sector procurement – consultation paper (Sydney: ICAC, 2010)

Investigation into the solicitation and receipt of corruption payments from a RailCorp contractor (Sydney: ICAC, Corruption prevention chapter: 7 pages, 2009)

Investigation into bribery and fraud at RailCorp (Sydney: ICAC, Corruption prevention report: 58 pages, 2008)

Applying lessons from Canada to corruption prevention for Aboriginal communities in New South Wales (Sydney: ICAC, 2008)

Investigation into defrauding the RTA and RailCorp in relation to provision of traffic management services (Sydney: ICAC, Corruption prevention chapter)

Philippine Aeromagnetic Mineral Survey: Report of Scoping Study Mission, M. Nest, G. Butt, D. Swan and L. Villaneuva (Canberra: AusAID, 2006).

Instability poses threat to Sahel Oil (Oxford Analytica, 14 Nov 2005)

Congo-Kinshasa: Resource sector brings political risks (Oxford Analytica, 20 July 2005)

Uganda: Third term threatens Museveni track record (Oxford Analytica 1 Jul 2005)

Mauritius: Singapore-India deal adds to challenges (Oxford Analytica, 1 Sep 2005)

West Africa: Ivoirien conflict takes toll on region (Oxford Analytica, 30 Aug 2005)

Papua New Guinea: Service Delivery in Policy Poor/Natural Resource-Rich Environments (Canberra: AusAID, 2004)

Iraq, Afghanistan and Solomon Islands: The Future of Neutral and Independent Humanitarian Action (Canberra: AusAID, 2004)

Commonwealth Business Council Country Reports on investment and business conditions in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Cameroon, Seychelles and Mauritius (Oxford Analytica, 2002 and 2003)

Community consent in mining agreements: conceptual challenges (Washington DC: Earthworks Action, 2002)

Ivory Coast: Region at risk as conflict continues (Oxford Analytica, 22 Nov 2002)