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In Brief:
Susan has a PhD in Botany/Ecology, a Master’s degree in GIS and Remote Sensing and a BSc in Botany/Microbiology. She has worked both in Ireland and internationally in the subjects of Ecology and Biodiversity, and is trained in Appropriate Assessment and the Native Woodland Scheme. Her experience has included evaluating and mapping land for conservation, surveying habitats and vegetation, plant identification, research design, project management and lecturing. Employers and clients have included Trinity College Dublin, the Forest Service, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UK), the Research Programme of the European Communities, the Nature Conservancy (US), United Nations agencies FAO and UNDP and the University of the West Indies. Susan has a special interest in woodlands, coastal areas, conservation and climate change, and has authored scientific reports, papers and books.
Employment history:
2010-2020: Independent consultant in Ecology and GIS:
- Coillte: Senior Ecology Consultant on the BioClass and BioForest projects (contracted through Aniar Ecology)
- European Commission: Expert and Vice Chair for Research Proposals submitted to EU research funding Programmes
- Mayo Co. Council: Consultant Ecologist to make Habitat Maps and Biodiversity Plans for a number of towns in Co. Mayo (contracted through Aniar Ecology).
- Tubridy Associates: Consultant Ecologist, mapping support for habitat mapping in the Blackstairs Mountains.
- Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT): Lecturer and Learning Support Tutor (part-time)(Subjects: Ecology, GIS)
- Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO): Consultant in forest mapping, to update the Global Ecological Zones Map for forest reporting in the Forest Resources Assessment.
2007-2010: Independent consultant and M.Sc. Student, Ulster University.
2001-2006: Project Manager and Senior Research Fellow, Botany Department, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
1999-2001: Independent consultant working on Irish and international issues in conservation and ecology, particularly the classification and mapping of Central American land cover types.
1995-1998. Senior Research Officer, Forest Programme, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK.
Oct 1990 – Jun 1995: Regional Ecology Advisor, Conservation Science and Stewardship Department, Latin America and Caribbean Division, The Nature Conservancy, USA.
Sep 1986 – Oct 1990: Lecturer in Plant Ecology, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.
1981-1986: Ph.D. Student with teaching and invigilating duties, Trinity College, Dublin.
Skills Training:
Project management courses: CAPM, Agile leader, Agile Scrum Mastery (2020). Appropriate Assessment course (2013), Climate change MOOC (University of British Columbia, 2014) QGIS for Ecologists (CIEEM, 2014 and Coillte, 2019), Native Woodland Scheme qualification for Ecologists, (Irish Forest Service, 2006 and 2019). First Aid, CPR and Manual Handling (2019).
Computer program familiarity:
Microsoft WORD, EXCEL, PowerPoint, Access, FrontPage, Dreamweaver, EndNote, SPSS statistics package, ArcGIS, ArcView, ERDAS Imagine, Q GIS, FIPS database (Irish Forest Service), Coillte Databases, Biological databases (US Heritage Service), Protected Areas and Species databases (World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP, UK)).
Ecology GIS 