Biodiversity Assessment and Management Plans for Coillte Lands
Client: Coillte, the Irish Forestry Board
Consulting work as a Senior Ecologist with Coillte, through Aniar Ecology, on the BioClass and BioForest projects, 2017-2020. This complex work included: assessing Coillte lands for their biodiversity value and ranking them (score for biodiversity value); writing management plans in association with a forester; writing applications for the Native Woodland Scheme; contributing to the design of the template for delivering the management plans. The implementation of these plans by Coillte will ensure that these high-value areas will be managed to the best ecological standards and ensure that the biodiversity will be improved over the years.
Biodiversity of Plantation forests (BIOFOREST)
Clients: Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) and Council for Forest Research and Development (COFORD)
Susan was Senior Research Fellow and Project Manager for this six year project. It was a multidisciplinary, inter-institutional project (TCD, UCC, Coillte), involving surveys of habitats, zoology and botany to investigate different aspects of biodiversity. A major aim was to make recommendations for Irish forest management practices. To view or download Reports, please click here.
Effects of Sea Level Rise on Habitats of Clew Bay
Client: MSc Thesis at University of Ulster
Remote sensing was used in this project to make a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the land surface of an archipelago in western Ireland and characterise the land cover. LiDAR and Landsat images were the data sources. A .pdf file of this MSc thesis can be downloaded here (!!20 MB!!).
Guidelines for Forest Biodiversity
Client: Forest Service (Ireland)
Susan wrote a technical document for the Forest Service that was the basis for their Guidelines for Forest Biodiversity (2000). This involved consultation with many individuals and agencies to include all relevant concerns. A .pdf file of this document can be downloaded here.
EU Research Proposal Evaluation
Client: EU Research Programme (REA, Brussels)
Susan served on a Panel of Expert Evaluators for scientific project proposals submitted to the EU under Research Frameworks 5 and 7 (2000, 2009, 2011, 2012).
Global Ecological Zones map (GEZ)
Client: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Susan conducted an international consultation and review of a GEZ map dataset for the Global Forest Resources Assessment (both 2000 and 2010). Work involved organising an international workshop, sourcing and incorporating data into the GEZ map and documenting the stages in this process in a formal report. A .pdf file of this report can be downloaded here.
Global Forest Cover
Clients: World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UK) and Centre for International Forest Research (United Nations, Indonesia)
This project involved piecing together forest spatial data from different regions of the globe, classifying it and producing a map of the different forest types. As part of a team, Susan carried out an analysis of global forest cover, and contributed to the production of a map and data CD (for more details follow this link and go to item 3).
Rapid Ecological Assessment
Clients: The Nature Conservancy (US), US Agency for International Development
Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) is a process by which existing biological and ecological records are used with new spatial data analysis and targeted fieldwork to streamline conservation planning and implementation. It has been used in Latin America and the Caribbean in particular. Susan worked on many aspects of these projects, organising and leading field teams, carrying out habitat identification, image interpretation and writing multidisciplinary reports. Examples of reports from Jamaica may be downloaded (!! 15 MB!!) here. Some other REA reports/publications may be accessed through the publications list, click here.
Ecology GIS 