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Dr Therese Conway

BA.,MA.,PhD

Contact Details

Lecturer (Fixed Term)
School of Geography &
Archaeology
NUI Galway

E: THERESE.CONWAY@nuigalway.ie
 
researcher

Biography

Programme Director, BASS (BSc in Applied Social Sciences).

I currently lecture on the BASS Degree and more widely through the Discipline of Geography.

Over the last number of years, I have positioned my research agenda with a focus on the concepts of networks and networking, and in particular their role in development, including studies that engage with their role in tourism, ecotourism, community development (communities of practice) and rural development. 

I have spent time working as a postdoctoral researcher on an EU Northern Peripheries and Arctic Programme project BUSK (Building Shared Knowledge capital). This project explores peripheral livelihoods and land uses dependent on natural resources, associated issues of contested management and planning, and the development of innovative solutions to policy and planning for their long-term sustainability.

I have also worked as a postdoctoral researcher on a four partner consortium that was awarded the contract to run the National Rural Network in Ireland (NRN) for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.  The NRN is a support body for the successful implementation of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. NUI Galway is the lead research partner. The NRN engages in a practical way with networking key stakeholders and communities within the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. 

Strategically, being involved in the NRN allowed me to apply my academic and practical knowledge of networks to our research on the RDP process with a particular focus on the LEADER Programme, Farm Viability and European Innovation Partnerships. This also aided me in guiding my future research agenda in terms of the development of networks and the contribution that collaborative and communicative structures and processes make to long-term and sustainable planning for both community and rural development. 

In 2015-1016 I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Technology Tralee in the UNESCO Chair research centre. 

I completed a primary degree in Geography and Sociology in University College Cork in 2006 after which, I completed a Masters in Planning and Sustainable Development also at UCC. Following a short planning career Therese commenced her PhD at NUI Galway having been award a scholarship through PRTLI4, as part of the Irish Social Sciences Platform (ISSP) and the Whitaker Institute (NUI Galway), Programme of research.

Therese’s research focuses on tourism destination planning and development with particular emphasis on alternative tourism forms such as ecotourism. Therese also has a specific interest in the role of networks and networking in rural tourism promotion and development.  She is currently engaged in research relating to the role of social capital in ecotourism promotion and the definition of ecotourism in developed world locations.  Her recent research has been funded through the PRTLI4 as part of the ISSP and the Whitaker Institute programme of research.  Therese is a member of the Rural Studies Research Cluster in Geography and the Whitaker Institute. 

Research Interests

Therese’s research focuses on tourism destination planning and development with particular emphasis on alternative tourism forms such as ecotourism. Therese also has a specific interest in the role of networks and networking in rural tourism promotion and development.  She is currently engaged in research relating to the role of social capital in ecotourism promotion and the definition of ecotourism in developed world locations.  Her recent research has been funded through the PRTLI4 as part of the ISSP and the Whitaker Institute programme of research.  Therese is a member of the Rural Studies Research Cluster in Geography and the Whitaker Institute. 

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2012) 'Organizational networking in an emerging ecotourism destination'
Conway, T. and Cawley, M. (2012) 'Organizational networking in an emerging ecotourism destination'. Tourism Planning & Development, 9 (4):397-409 [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2016) 'Endogenous resource use and ecotourism development'
Conway, T., Cawley, M. (2016) 'Endogenous resource use and ecotourism development' In: Re-inventing Rural Tourism Through Co-creative and Sustainable Tourist Experiences. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press. [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
(2013) THRIC
Conway, T. and Cawley, M. (2013) Perspectives on ecotourism: tourism provider understandings THRIC [Details]
(2013) 19th Annual Colloquium of the Commission on the Sustainability of Rural Systems of the IGU
Conway, T. (2013) Networks in rural tourism . In: Mary Cawley, Ana Maria Bicalho, Lucette Laurens eds. 19th Annual Colloquium of the Commission on the Sustainability of Rural Systems of the IGU Galway: IGU and Whitaker Institute, NUI Galway, , pp.252-261 [Details]

Teaching Interests

Since 2009 I have been engaged in third level teaching and learning. During this time my teaching portfolio has expanded to encompass the design, coordination and delivery of MA modules in service learning, rural development, and rural tourism, and extensive undergraduate teaching in core subjects and specialist research areas. 

My teaching experience in Geography at NUI Galway relates to designing and coordinating courses for classes of 100+ students, coordinating modules and conducting the associated teaching for a fourth level MA group (10 students), and engaging in a number of team taught modules across the discipline for classes in excess of 200. This experience provided me with opportunities to engage with different types of teaching, across various fields in both human and physical geography, at different levels and classes of varying sizes. Through my teaching experience I promote a deeply student centred learning environment. 

Modules Taught

  Term/Year Module Title Module Code Subject / Desc
2015 TI 252: Theory and Practice II
2014 TI 251: Theory and Practice in Geography
2015 TI 507: Research Methodologies
2015 TI 335: Research Project Design and Development
2017 BSS1101 Introduction to the Social Sciences
2014 TI 504: Rural Field-Based and Service Learning
2015 TI 506: The Multifunctional Countryside
2015 TI 226: Tourism Geographies