My interests are in biodiversity, biogeography and ecology, especially in the ocean, with applications in relation to nature conservation, climate change, invasive species, and aquaculture. 

I am from Kildare in Ireland. I studied in Galway (BSc Hon. Zoology NUIG) and Cork (PhD UCC), followed by postdoc's at the Marine Biological Association Plymouth, and jointly with the Marine Laboratory Aberdeen and Napier University Edinburgh (where I was based at Poolewe, a remote field station on the west coast). After being a lecturer in Trinity College Dublin for 6 years my group set up a research and consulting company called EcoServe (Ecological Consultancy Services Ltd) of which I was Managing Director. I was Executive Director of the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada for almost 4 years, and then became a professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand until joining Nord University in 2020. 

My teaching has not yet begun at Nord University but is likely to include aspects of Marine Protected Areas, marine biodiversity and biogeography, and biodiversity informatics.