Apart from her role as Green Transition Minerals Fellow at APRI, Judy is completing a PhD at the University of Manchester's Global Development Institute. Her research focuses on natural resource governance, especially the socio-legal dynamics that shape relations between mines, communities, and the environment. Her current project investigates the application of international business and human rights standards in Africa’s extractive industries. She is particularly interested in how both hard and soft law is influenced by the energy transition, and what social repercussions it may hold for Africa's people.

Before returning to academia, Judy spent seven years working in the Southern African mining sector, delivering and managing projects in South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Tanzania, and Botswana. She started out as a mediator of mine-community disputes, thereafter taking on a consultant role in Deloitte Africa's mining team.

Judy has extensive experience working directly with both community and corporate actors to navigate the impacts of mining. With projects and research conducted across dozens of mining jurisdictions in Southern Africa, she has continuously deepened her understanding of the challenging task of balancing economic interests, social justice, and environmental sustainability in policy-making.

Judy holds a Masters' Degree in Violence, Conflict and Development from SOAS (University of London); an Honours Degree in Political Sciences from UNISA; and both a BA Law degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Communications from the University of Stellenbosch.