Nikky LaBranche

Dr Nikky LaBranche is a mining engineer, occupational health researcher and industry leader specialising in occupational dust, airborne hazards and respiratory health. She is Director of Professional Development at The University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) and leads the Dust and Respiratory Health Program within the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre.

Nikky leads a portfolio of more than $4 million in applied research focused on preventing occupational lung disease and improving how airborne hazards are understood, assessed and controlled. Her research spans underground and surface mining, engineered stone, mineral processing and other dust-generating industries, with particular expertise in respirable crystalline silica, coal mine dust, diesel particulate matter and complex workplace aerosols.

Her work sits at the intersection of mining engineering, exposure science, advanced microscopy and worker health. She has pioneered the application of automated mineralogy and advanced scanning electron microscopy to occupational dust samples, allowing individual particles to be characterised by their composition, size, shape and associations. Increasingly, her research is also exploring artificial intelligence and large particle datasets to identify patterns that cannot be resolved through conventional exposure measurements alone.

A central theme of Nikky’s work is moving beyond asking simply how much dust a worker is exposed to, towards understanding what the dust contains, where it came from, how it changes with mining and processing activities, and which characteristics may be most important for health. This evidence supports more targeted exposure assessment, control selection and risk management.

Nikky works extensively with industry, government, regulators, unions, clinicians and researchers to translate research into practice. Her broader research program encompasses exposure assessment and control, occupational disease prevention, respiratory health risk factors, return to work following occupational lung disease, emerging airborne contaminants and the development of new approaches to occupational health surveillance and risk management.

With more than 20 years of experience across mining operations, research, occupational health and safety and industry leadership, Nikky brings a strong applied perspective to her work. Alongside her research role, as Director of Professional Development at SMI she provides strategic leadership for industry-facing education and professional capability development, helping translate university research and expertise into practice across the resources sector.

Nikky is a Fellow and Chartered Professional of AusIMM and a member of the AusIMM Board. She also contributes to national occupational health and professional initiatives through Standards Australia and the Lung Foundation Australia Occupational Lung Disease Network. She is a recognised speaker and media commentator on mining health and safety, respirable dust, silica, occupational lung disease and emerging approaches to exposure assessment.

Her contributions have been recognised through the 2024 AusIMM Professional Excellence Award in Health and Safety, the 2025 Queensland Resources Council Exceptional Woman in Technological Innovation Award, the 2025 Women in Resources National Exceptional Woman in Technological Innovation Award and the 2025 Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference Health Award.