Experience

MaREI

• Ireland
• Renewable Energy Semiconductor Manufacturing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Research Fellow

  • Sep 2022 - Present

  I am project Co-ordinator of the Horizon Europe Project Marine SABRES. The main goal of Marine SABRES is to conserve and protect biodiversity by integrating sustainable ecosystems and a resilient blue economy. Marine SABRES will co-design, coproduce, co-deliver and implement an agile Simple SES to accelerate uptake of EBM. This Simple Social-Ecological System (SES) will be used to implement interventions which conserve biodiversity and contribute to human well-being in three relatively simple Demonstration Areas. The Simple SES will then be upscaled for practical application across Europe and internationally to more complex situations, enabling managers to make sustainable decisions; empowering citizens to engage with marine biodiversity conservation; promoting sustainable development in coastal and marine sectors and setting European marine management on a course to reverse biodiversity decline by rapidly upscaling EBM. Show less

• Senior Post-doctoral Researcher

  • Mar 2019 - Sep 2022

  I am currently working on two marine energy projects, responsible for examining on the environmental impact of Wave Energy Devices, the SafeWAVE and IMPACT project. I also work on the SFI funded project Dingle Peninsula 2030, which is an initiative for a more environmentally and economically sustainable future on the Dingle Peninsula. I managed the EU DG Environment funded Risk-based Approaches to Good Environmental Status (RAGES) project, which aimed to support the development and operational implementation of regional indicators, lists of elements and threshold values and integration rules for Good Environmental Status under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The RAGES project was comprised of a consortium made up of competent authorities from Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal with (regional and sub-regional) responsibility for the implementation of the MSFD in the North East Atlantic region, comprising the Celtic Seas, Bay of Biscay and Iberian as well as Macaronesian sub-regions and will work closely with the OSPAR commission. RAGES will develop a conceptual frame for incorporation of risk-based approaches into the MSFD. The risk-based approach was applied at a sub-regional scale to the analysis of Alien Invasive Species (Descriptor 2 of the MSFD) as well as to energy and noise (Descriptor 11). Show less



JNCC

• United Kingdom
• Environmental Services
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Marine Monitoring Manager

  • Aug 2009 - Sep 2015

  In this role, I led a team of three scientists to deliver options for the UK government primarily in relation to the monitoring of marine environment for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, but also for the habitats Directive, OSPAR and UK Marine Act obligations. This was a dynamic science role requiring engagement with stakeholders across multiple organisations and member states. I was responsible for identifying research of relevance to the Marine Policy arena in the UK. I designed a range of protocols, maps and reports) which translated scientific research into a format suitable for use by policymakers. I also chaired cross-party working groups across UK country conservation agencies (eg. NE, NIEA, SNH)to develop a shared consensus and unified approach to marine benthic biodiversity monitoring. Show less

• Marine Ecologist

  • Sep 2005 - Aug 2009

  My primary focus was to undertake technical analysis and interpretation of scientific data for policy needs, with a particular focus on the implementation of the EU Habitats Directive. I worked within a large team to deliver specific objectives under direction of science manager and acted as secretariat to a number of different multi-organisation steering groups. I worked extensively with GIS software to create mapping products and focused on the scientific process to identify Special Areas of Conservation in UK waters and participated in several offshore surveys to identify area for designation as protected areas Show less



Smithsonian Institution

• Museums, Historical Sites, and Zoos
• 700 & Above Employee

• Post Doctoral Fellow

  • Jan 2003 - Sep 2005

  My postdoctoral research focused on development of management measures for Non-Indigenous Species in the marine environment. I looked particularly at ship's ballast water as a vector for NIS globally. I worked in a large scientific research lab, focusing on analysis, interpretation and publication of large quantities of historical data on ballast water in the USA. I also collaborated within the wider research and government community in the USA to identify areas of focus for the lab. My postdoctoral research focused on development of management measures for Non-Indigenous Species in the marine environment. I looked particularly at ship's ballast water as a vector for NIS globally. I worked in a large scientific research lab, focusing on analysis, interpretation and publication of large quantities of historical data on ballast water in the USA. I also collaborated within the wider research and government community in the USA to identify areas of focus for the lab.