Gracelin Baskaran

Dr. Gracelin Baskaran is director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).  She is a mining economist and has spent over a decade working on critical minerals globally. Dr. Baskaran began her career in South Africa’s platinum belt. She later spent five years at the World Bank in South Africa, where she coauthored the book Africa’s Resource Future: Harnessing Natural Resources for Economic Transformation during the Low-Carbon Transition. She recently published a policy playbook, Critical Minerals and the Future of the United States Economy, and is now writing a book on an international strategy for critical minerals engagement for the United States. She was a Fulbright Scholar and held positions at the University of Cambridge, University of London and University of Cape Town.

Dr. Baskaran has been cited as an expert in The Economist, Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fox, CNN, Bloomberg, and BBC. She has authored over 200 policy reports, white papers, and op-eds, and has published research in the Mineral Economics journal. Her work on critical minerals spans over 35 countries, and she is a frequent speaker at leading international mining conferences, universities, and policymaker forums. She has also testified before the U.S. Congress. Dr. Baskaran is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Georgetown University, where she teaches on critical minerals and national security. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge.