Karen Bouchard holds a Master's degree in Anthropology and has focused on water governance security issues in the context of climate change with indigenous communities in the northern highlands of the Philippines. She has participated in qualitative research on the local impacts of mining development in Palawan, Philippines, for the REINVENTERRA project of CETASE at the Université de Montréal, and is now working on the application of free, prior and informed consent in the Baffinland Corp. mineral extraction project located in Mary River, Nunavut. She is pursuing her doctoral studies in political science under the direction of Thierry Rodon, this time focusing on the issues of mining development in the Arctic regions.