I hold an honours degree in Zoology from Trinity College Dublin (1998) and a PhD in marine ecology from University College Dublin (2003). I came to GMIT as a post-doctoral researcher in 2003 and took up a lecturing position on the Applied Freshwater and Marine and Biology programme in 2007. My research interests are in the areas of sustainable fisheries management, fish population biology and ecology; early life history and the elucidation of long-term trends in ecological datasets. In much of my research I use the chronological information stored in the structure and composition of fish hard parts to understand fish population dynamics and stock structure and how they are influenced by environmental and ecosystem change. In my current role as Centre leader I oversee the operation of the MFRC, its research and postgraduate programmes and its strategic development.