Dr Mike Bourke
School of Culture, History and Language
ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
Dr Mike Bourke is an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Culture, History and Language in the College of Asia and the Pacific and is a member of the ANU Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions.
Dr Bourke is an expert on village agriculture in the Pacific Islands, with most of his career in Papua New Guinea, but also in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and other Pacific Island nations. He is a specialist in food production and has been engaged on a continuous basis in PNG and elsewhere in the Pacific Islands since 1970. He has conducted fieldwork in all 93 districts in PNG, as well as in several islands in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. He was engaged in extensive studies in PNG villages up to late 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented fieldwork in PNG.
He has published numerous papers, scientific books, technical reports and outreach articles on agriculture, food security, rural development and land use. He has also published on poverty, climate change, demography and other related aspects in PNG and elsewhere in the Pacific.