People

Centre Director

Dr. Diarmuid Torney

Diarmuid is an Associate Professor in the School of Law and Government at DCU. His research focuses on comparative and global politics of climate change, environment, and energy.

Read more


Centre Co-Directors

Dr. David Robbins

Dave is an Associate Professor in the School of Communications at DCU. His research examines media coverage of climate change, and the intersection of the press, politics and policy.

Read more

Prof. Pat Brereton

Pat is an eminent scholar of eco-cinema and other cultural responses to the environment. He is the author of Environmental Literacy and New Digital Audiences (Routledge, 2019), and Environmental Ethics and Film (Routledge, 2015), as well as many other journal articles and book chapters.

Read more


Centre Staff

Stephanie McDonald

Ms Stephanie McDonald

Stephanie McDonald

Stephanie is our centre co-ordinator, and manages the day-to-day operations of the centre, including finance, events, and communications. Stephanie has diverse experience working on climate change, food security and public health policy in the non-profit sector in Canada, Tanzania and Ireland.


DCU Members

Dr. Declan Fahy

Declan is Chair of the BA in Journalism in the School of Communications at DCU.

He is an associate professor who researches the public communication of science, health, environment and technology.

Read more

Susan Hegarty_002.jpg

Dr. Susan Hegarty

Dr. Susan Hegarty

Susan is a geographer and Associate Professor in the School of History and Geography. Her research and teaching looks at the relationship between humans and the physical landscape, and focuses on how human activities can influence water quality.

Read more

Dr. Trish Morgan

Trish is an assistant professor in the school of Communications at Dublin City University.

Her research is concerned with the systemic aspects of the environmental crisis, and the communication of these multiple environmental issues.

Read more

Dr. Dawn Wheatley

Dawn is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communications focusing on journalism, political communication, and social media. She received her PhD in 2018 for her research into news coverage of Irish healthcare policy, with a particular emphasis on sources and voices, and how newsroom practices are established and reproduced.

Read more

Dr. Danny Marks

Danny is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Politics and Policy in the School of Law and Government of Dublin City University. Prior to this position, he was an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at the Department of Asian and International Studies of City University of Hong Kong.

Read more

Dr. Aideen O'Dochartaigh

Dr. Aideen O'Dochartaigh

Dr. Aideen O'Dochartaigh

Dr O’Dochartaigh joined the DCU Business School in September 2020 as Assistant Professor in Accounting.  Prior to this she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the UCD College of Business and the BiOrbic Bioeconomy Centre, specialising in sustainability accounting and responsible business. 

Read more

Dr. Markus Pauli

Markus is Assistant Professor in Political Science in the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University. He has held positions in the Political Science Department at the National University of Singapore, Yale-NUS, Singapore Management University, and Heidelberg University, Germany. 

Read more

Dr. Darren Clarke

Darren is an environmental geographer with research interests in the social and governance aspects of climate change/environmental change and in environmental psychology.

Read more

Prof. Marina Efthymiou

Marina is a Professor of Aviation Management in the DCU Business School, and specialises in sustainable aviation. Prior to joining academic, she worked for EUROCONTROL – the International Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation based in Brussels. 

Read more.

Dr. Ben Mallon

Ben is Assistant Professor in Geography and Citizenship Education in the School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies in the Institute of Education, Dublin City University.

Read more

Dr. Goran Dominioni

Goran Dominioni is an Assistant Professor in Law and works primarily on climate change law & policy. He is particularly interested in the design of climate change policies – especially carbon pricing – to increase their mitigation effects, their compatibility with international law, and their public acceptability.

Read more

Dr. Fiachra O'Brolchain

Fiachra obtained a BA in Philosophy and English from University College Dublin. Following this, he completed a Masters in Film Studies in UCD. After working in an academic publishing company, he obtained his doctorate from the school of Politics, International Studies, and Philosophy Queens University Belfast in 2009.

Read more

Sandeep Rao

Dr. Sandeep Rao

Dr. Sandeep Rao

Sandeep is an Associate Professor of Finance in the DCU Business School. He researches in the area of Sustainable corporate finance, and the impact of climate change on corporations. Read more.

Dr. Pádraig Murphy

Dr. Pádraig Murphy is Associate Professor in Communication at Dublin City University and Chair of the MSc in Science and Health Communication programme.  

Read more

Dr. Jimmy O'Keeffe

Jimmy is a Geographer and Hydrologist who uses social science and systems modelling to better understand our place in the built and natural world.

Read more


Johannes

Dr. Johannes Karl

Dr. Johannes Karl

Johannes is an Assistant Professor in Psychology at DCU focusing on the bi-directional relationship between human behaviour, emotions, and the natural environment on individual and cultural levels. 

Niamh

Dr. Niamh Cullen

Dr. Niamh Cullen

Niamh is an Assistant Professor in the School of History and Geography at Dublin City University. Niamh lectures on the new DCU Future's BA in Climate and Environmental Sustainability delivering modules in Marine and Coastal Environments, Environmental Data Analysis, Environmental GIS, Global Climates and a Residential Field Module in Geography. Her research interests include short- and long-term responses of coastal systems and slopes to climate change and extreme events. 

Ellen

Dr. Ellen Howley

Dr. Ellen Howley

Ellen is an Assistant Professor in the School of English. She received her PhD in 2020, for a thesis that examined engagements with the sea in Irish and Caribbean poetry. In 2019, she co-organised the IRC-funded, interdisciplinary workshop 'Planet Ocean', which addressed issues facing on the world's seas and oceans from perspectives across the AHSS-STEM axis. She has research interests in ecocriticism, postcolonialism and poetry studies. 

 

Emma

Dr. Emma Delemere

Dr. Emma Delemere

Emma is an Assistant Professor in the DCU School of Psychology. Emma has over 10 years experience working with community stakeholders and non-governmental organisations to establish shared goals and drive meaningful change using behavioural science. Emma is interested in exploring how behavioural science can be applied to solve complex social challenges, particularly pro-environmental behaviour and sustainability.

Sam

Samantha Fahy

Samantha Fahy

In 2012, Samantha was appointed to ‘Sustainability DCU’ and has led DCU in a series of initiatives including the establishment of the DCU Sustainability Council and the publishing of DCU’s first Climate Action Plan delivering numerous novel and innovative programmes across the institution. Samantha started her career in plasma physics and gained over twenty years of experience in the management and administration of high technology complex multi-stakeholder research projects. 

Alice

Dr. Alice Brawley-Chesworth

Dr. Alice Brawley-Chesworth

Alice is a postdoctoral researcher at DCU’s School of Law and Government focusing on climate policy. Prior to earning her PhD in social science, Alice worked in the water sector for 30 years at the municipal level in the US as a chemist, engineer and policy analyst. Her research interests include institutional change, climate policy, infrastructure, social justice, and disciplinary cultures.
 

Ross

Dr. Ross Carroll

Dr. Ross Carroll

Ross is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the School of Law and Government at DCU. He is a specialist in political theory and his research focuses on the politics of ridicule, abolitionism, and (increasingly) intergenerational justice. 

 

Louise

Dr. Louise Fitzgerald 

Dr. Louise Fitzgerald

Louise is an Assistant Professor at the DCU School of Law and Government. Louise's research broadly focuses on issues of justice in environmental topics and how to develop more just and inclusive sustainability transitions. Currently, Louise is leading a SEAI-funded project on the role of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in energy transformations, as well as conducting research into the justice implications of forestry within national and EU-level climate mitigation efforts. 

Kathleen

Dr. Kathleen Stokes

Dr. Kathleen Stokes

Kathleen is an urban geographer and Assistant Professor in the School of History and Geography, where she lectures on sustainability and sustainable cities. Her research interests include urban governance, infrastructural labour, sustainable livelihoods, waste, and vacant space and property. 

John

Dr. John Quinn

Dr. John Quinn

John is an Assistant Professor of Corporate Law. His research focuses on the role law plays in the regulation of companies, including recent reforms promoting corporate sustainability.

Rowan

Dr. Rowan Oberman

Dr. Rowan Oberman

Rowan is Assistant Professor in the School of Stem Education Innovation and Global Studies and Co-Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education. Her areas of research interest include climate change education, children’s rights and picturebooks. She is a qualified Barrister with particular expertise in human rights and family law. She lectures on DCU’s BECE and BEd programmes as well as the DCU MEd in Literacy Professional Practice and MSc in Climate Change.

Vincent

Dr. Vincent Tawiah

Dr. Vincent Tawiah

Vincent is an Assistant Professor in International Financial Reporting at the DCU Business School. His research interests include climate change and sustainability, international financial reporting and corporate governance. Read more.

Anh

Dr. Anh Vu

Dr. Anh Vu

Anh is an Assistant Professor of Finance in the DCU Business School. Her research interests focus on sustainable finance policies, their impacts on the financial sector, as well as relations with existing fossil fuel subsidies and other non-financial environmental measures. In the longer term, she aims to contribute to an emerging literature on using quantitative methods to sustainability and financial data.

Dr. Rabia Qusien

Rabia is a part-time lecturer in the School of Communications, Dublin City University. Her research focuses on media coverage of climate change events in Pakistan.

Read more

Barry

Barry Peak

Barry Peak

Barry is the Education for Sustainable Development Officer at DCU. Previously, he was a teacher at second-level and worked at an education charity that empowers and equips young people to take action on social justice issues.

Cormac C

Dr. Cormac Cleary

Dr. Cormac Cleary

Cormac is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Communications, working on public perceptions of environmental issues in Ireland. His PhD research at the University of Edinburgh was an anthropological study of Scottish Gaelic language revitalisation and nature conservation. 

Luis

Dr. Luis Martin Domingo

Dr. Luis Martin Domingo

Luis works for the DCU Business School as a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in the AZERO project, assessing European airline reduction commitments for zero emissions 2050. He is supervised by Prof. Marina Efthymiou, Professor in Aviation Management, specialised in sustainable aviation. 

External Members

Brenda McNally

Dr Brenda McNally

Dr. Brenda McNally

Brenda is a Lecturer in Journalism and Media (Global Media) at the University of Galway. Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher with the DCU Centre for Climate and Society. She has completed research projects on community engagement with coastal climate adaptation, citizen perceptions of climate actions and news media representations of low carbon transition.

Dr. Sean Shanagher

Sean Shanagher lectures in Cultural Studies on the Media Production Management degree at Ballyfermot College of Further Education, a linked college to DCU. His research interests focus on alternative food networks, community food systems and climate-friendly agriculture.

Read more

Sadhbh O'Neill

Sadhbh O'Neill is a PhD candidate at the School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin researching climate ethics and carbon trading.

Read more

Dr. Victoria Gomez

Victoria holds a Master Degree in Social Policy and Community Mediation from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a PhD in Environmental Communication, awarded by DCU´s School of Communication.

Read more

Dr. Roisín Lyons

Roisín is a lecturer of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick. She has lectured for over 10 years, in DCU, Dublin and in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Read more

Prof. Janet Walker

Janet Walker is Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and participating faculty in the campus’s Interdepartmental PhD Emphasis in Environment and Society.

Read more

Dr. Jean Boucher

Dr. Jean Léon Boucher 

 

Dr. Jean Léon Boucher

Jean is a senior researcher working on land use and society metabolism at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. Formerly, he worked at DCU on Ireland’s Five-Year Climate Assessment report. As an environmental sociologist, he has focused on people’s attitudes and behavior regarding climate change, the demographics of energy use, and policies to reduce carbon emissions. 

Peadar

Prof. Peadar Kirby

Prof. Peadar Kirby

Prof. Peadar Kirby is Professor Emeritus of International Politics and Public Policy, University of Limerick and a visiting professor at the Universidad de Valencia, Spain. He has lived in Cloughjordan Ecovillage since 2009 where he served on the board of directors from 2015-19 and is currently coordinator of the education programme. His latest books are Karl Polanyi and the Contemporary Global Crisis: Transforming Market Society in the Era of Climate Change (Bloomsbury, 2021) and, co-authored with Tadhg O’Mahony, The Political Economy of the Low-Carbon Transition: Pathways Beyond Techno-optimism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). He is currently writing a book entitled Athrú Treo: An Ghaeilge sa Trasnú go Sochaí Iar-Charbóin.

Amalia

Dr. Amalia Gómez-Casillas

Dr. Amalia Gómez-Casillas

Amalia is a demographer working at the Center of Demographics Studies (CED-CERCA) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), who firstly specialized in inequalities with a focus on gender issues providing support to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). More recently, she has focused on environmental issues and particularly climate change awareness, taking part in a project funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) and the Ministry of Environment (MA) in Uruguay.

Claire

Dr. Claire Dupont

Dr. Claire Dupont

Claire is Research Professor of European governance of the transformation to sustainability at Ghent University, Belgium. Her research focuses on the politics, policy, and governance of the climate and energy transition in the EU and its member states. Until the end of 2024, she is serving as the Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency.


PhD Students

Isha Smiti Thakur

Isha is a PhD candidate at the School of History and Geography, Dublin City University, researching the socio-environmental impact of hydroelectric power projects in the transboundary Brahmaputra river basin. She holds a Master’s degree in geography from King’s College London.

Read more.

Maeve Howe

Maeve Howe

Maeve Howe

Maeve Howe is a PhD candidate at the School of Law and Government, DCU. Her research is on the implementation of Climate Change Action Plans in Irish local government. She holds a Master's degree in Ecological Economics from the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies from Trinity College Dublin.

Erica Fox

Erica Fox

Erica Fox

Erica Fox is a PhD candidate at the School of History and Geography and the School of Communications, Dublin City University. She is researching the impacts of COVID-19 on transport behaviours and Ireland’s climate goals. She holds a Master’s degree in Climate Change from Maynooth University and a Bachelor’s degree in English and Geography from Dublin City University.

Sukanya

Sukanya Shukla

Sukanya Shukla

Sukanya Shukla is a PhD candidate at the School of Philosophy, Theology, and Music and the School of Communication and Media Studies at Dublin City University. Her research focuses on the ethics of green nudges as a response to Climate Change. She holds a Master's degree in Philosophy of Science from the London School of Economics. 

David

David Chikwaza

David Chikwaza

David Chikwaza is a PhD candidate at the School of History and Geography, Dublin City University, researching indigenous knowledge systems in Zimbabwe. He is primarily interested in decolonising climate change adaptation by promoting the epistemologies of the Global South, paying particular attention to natural resource management systems and agriculture. 

Read more.

Jack

Jack Campbell

Jack Campbell

Jack is a PhD candidate in Accounting at the School of Business, Dublin City University. His research seeks to explore the emergence of greenwashing on social media, with particular focus on stakeholders’ online interactions with the oil and gas industry. He holds an MA in Management from the University of St Andrews. 

Lughan

Lughan Deane

Lughan Deane

Lughan Deane is currently undertaking Irish Research Council funded doctoral research in climate communications at Dublin City University's School of Communications. His research focuses on the signs and placards of the climate strike movement. Lughan has a professional background in public relations and was awarded the Silver Lion in the Cannes Young Lions PR category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2021. 

Muhammad

Muhammad Sayyam Afzal

Muhammad Sayyam Afzal

Muhammad Sayyam is a PhD Candidate at the School of Communications, Dublin City University. He is a freelance journalist and research scientist, with a focus on climate change and political communication in Pakistan and globally. In 2021, he was selected among 100 emerging journalists through the British Council's Future News Worldwide programme.

Asma

Asma Yaqoob 

Asma Yaqoob

Asma is a PhD candidate at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University. Her research focuses on women's political vulnerabilities in climate disasters. She is investigating the floods of 2022 in Pakistan that devastated millions of people with disproportionate impacts on women and young girls. Her research is primarily based upon the intersection of environmental stressors, structural inequalities, and political processes at multiple levels, which leads to gender inequalities in decision-making for flood risk management. 

Jeanne

Jeanne Magnetti

Jeanne Magnetti

Jeanne is a PhD candidate at the School of Philosophy, Theology and Music and the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University. Her research focuses on the ethics of carbon pricing. She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from University College Dublin and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from SUNY Geneseo.

Read more.

Anand

Anand Kumar

Anand Kumar

Anand is a PhD candidate in Finance at the School of Business, Dublin City University. His PhD thesis focuses on climate regulation, women's leadership, and corporate financing decisions. More broadly, his research interests revolve around climate risk, corporate governance, and sustainability. 

Read more.

Chhaya B

Chhaya Bhardwaj

Chhaya Bhardwaj

Chhaya is a Phd candidate at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University. Her research interests are intersections of climate change and law, climate change and human rights and sea-level rise and law. 

Minh

Minh Nguyen

Minh Nguyen

Minh is a Phd candidate at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University. Her research focuses on the impact of green transition on the informal sector in Viet Nam and other developing and emerging economies. She holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Fulbright University Vietnam.  

Anna

Anna Pringle

Anna Pringle

Anna is a PhD candidate at the School of Communications in Dublin City University. Her research is focused on media representations of business and climate change. She holds a Master’s degree in Climate Change from DCU and a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from University of Leicester.  

Hannan

Hannan Galeb

Hannan Galeb

Hannan is a PhD candidate in Accounting at the DCU Business School. Her research looks at sustainability within accounting, primarily focusing on biodiversity and ecosystems. She completed a Master's degree in International Accounting and Business at DCU.

Maisie

Maisie McDavid

Maisie McDavid

Maisie is a PhD candidate at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University. Her research is focused on land-use policy and governance on the island of Ireland and the risks of Brexit to environmental outcomes. She holds a Master’s degree in International Environmental and Climate Change Law from the University of Edinburgh.

Toshali Chattopadhyay

Toshali Chattopadhyay

Toshali Chattopadhyay

Toshali is a PhD candidate at the School of History and Geography, Dublin City University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of transport infrastructure, sustainable mobility, urban political ecology, and the collective memories associated with the built environment. She earned her Master's degree in Urban Studies from Dr B R Ambedkar University, Delhi.