People

RESEARCH INTERESTS

I am an active researcher and lecturer in social and cultural geography. My expertise and central research interests straddle a number of arenas within critical geographic inquiry; these include: geographies of children, young people and families; geographies of education and social justice; and participative field-based research practice. To date my research has engaged communities in Ireland, France, UK, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Canada. All of my research practice is principally underpinned by participative field-based methodologies, allowing for work with various communities in Ireland and globally. In doing so, I acknowledge the need to work with research communities within and beyond the academic, connecting with community collaborators, activists and practitioners across various interdisciplinary fields. I am cognisant to the importance of listening to the communities within which I work and in allowing the development of a reciprocal dialogue, whereby research agendas and methodological design are informed by and through conversations with collaborative partners. I have also had success in securing funding and financial support for a number of on-going projects. My current research projects include:

Exploring Geographies of Opportunity among Young Migrants:

Working with Dr. Valerie Ledwith and a number of community partners this research explores the emergence of a two-tiered schooling system in Galway City and County. This mixed-method project examined young people’s experiences relating to educational issues; including: access, participation, aspiration and attainment. The project also examined a variety of family, school and neighbourhood effects, to examine the influence of each on overall student experiences. The educational experiences of young migrants were also explored. This work inherently built on my PhD research and informed the Transitions to University project rational. The project facilitated the development of a network between researchers at NUI Galway, community development practitioners across Galway City and County, and most importantly with migrant and new-comer communities.

Transitioning to University:

Working with, and informed by various community partners, this project examines the experience of young migrants living in Galway City and County who have successfully transitioned to university.  As part of this project the collected data has the potential to inform positive strategies to enhance educational opportunities of other young migrants living in communities across Ireland. More practically, the project also facilitates the emergence of a discussion forum where young people can critically engage with issues pertaining to integration, citizenship and belonging. Using a comparative approach I am currently extending this project to include a qualitative sample of students living and attending university in Toronto, Canada; a city heralded as a bastion of multiculturalism. The aim of this extension is to consider key aspects of student experience and their self-identified position within the university as a pedagogical and research space.

Critical and Participative Field-Based Learning Pedagogies: 

This research project is informed directly through staff and MA (ESD) student field experiences. Working with colleagues in geography at NUI Galway, the University of Northampton (UK), and a series of community partners (including UNDP Bosnia; EU Delegation to Bosnia; British Council, and a series of NGOs and CSO organisations), we consider the complexity of engaging critical field-based learning pedagogies in post-conflict Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The research highlights some of the key challenges to initiating and practicing field-based learning pedagogies in fluid, dynamic and unsystematic research contexts. I reflect on the complexities involved in seeking to facilitate and practice critical participatory knowledges that comprise academic, student and civic engagement values.

The Places and Spaces of Childhood Project:

This project is a participatory learning project that aims to transcend classroom learning through the development of field-based research skills. The project is built on the participation of three elements: university staff, final year geography students and children aged 8 - 10. As part of this experience final year geography students were required to complete a mental-mapping methodology with children; facilitating the production of a mental map, a recording of the child’s explanation of that map and a student reflective journal. In addition to constructing a picture of childhood in Ireland, this participatory project evaluates student performance in field-based contexts, reviewing students’ effectiveness in co-creating geographic knowledge. By extension the project explores the relationship between theory and practice, whereby classroom learning becomes practiced in a field-based (and real world) context.