Steering Committee

Prof. Charles Spillane is Established Professor (Chair) of Plant Science and Head of the multi-disciplinary Plant & AgriBiosciences Research Centre (PABC) at the University of Galway, Ireland and also the Masters degree programs in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (MScCCAFS) in partnership with the CGIAR’s Global Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) CRP programme.  

Prof Spillane has over 30 years of experience in the agricultural research for development arena, having worked at the at the scientific/technical level and also at the international policy level. In 2017, Prof. Spillane was appointed as the Director of the Ryan Institute for Sustainable Development at University of Galway, where he led the strategic development of the Ryan Institute as University of Galway’s largest research institute spanning the entire university. Prof Spillane was previously based in Rome working on agricultural research for development for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and also for members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR: IPGRI & CIAT). Prof. Spillane holds a degree from Dublin City University and a PhD in crop genetics from Trinity College Dublin. Website: www.plantagbiosciences.org

Patrice is the coordinator of IFIAD, bringing eight year’s experience in agriculture and markets development, and natural resource management in East and Southern Africa. Patrice has previously worked with UNDP, Irish Aid and Ecorys (Zambia).

Patrick is Deputy Director, Policy Unit, Development Co-operation & Africa Division, Department of Foreign Affairs.

David Butler, Head of Sustainable Food Systems Ireland (SFSI), has over 25 years’ experience in the delivery of publicly funded developmental services and projects in the fields of agri-food, SME development, investment promotion and new market development. He is responsible for oversight and management of all SFSI operations and the technical assistance and co-operation projects that it undertakes around the world. Prior to joining SFSI, David managed the food investment promotion programme of Enterprise Ireland.

He also worked in enterprise development with the same organisation and was Commercial Counsellor/Enterprise Ireland Country Manager at the Embassy of Ireland in Budapest, Hungary between 2005 and 2010. Prior to this David worked with IDA Ireland in investment promotion, and private sector trade and SME consultancy roles. He has a BComm Degree from University College Dublin and a Master of Business Studies Degree from the Smurfit Graduate School of Business.

Paul is Head of International Relations and Corporate Strategy

Previously, Paul Maher led the strategic development and modernisation of the Teagasc advisory and life-long learning programmes in his role as Assistant Director of Knowledge Transfer. Prior to that he worked in Teagasc in organisation wide functions such as business evaluation, business planning and risk management as well as farm financial management, advisory and education roles. He also worked in Ireland and New Zealand in commercial and agri-extension roles. He is a graduate of UCD with a Bachelor and Masters in Agricultural Science and also holds a post graduate qualification in business studies from WIT.

Paul Wagstaff is the Head of the Global Technical Advisory and Research Team,
Self Help Africa

 Before joining SHA Paul was an agriculture advisor with Concern Worldwide, working on Climate Smart Agriculture, Conservation Agriculture, agriculture and nutrition, crop protection, soil and water conservation, and rodent control in 25 countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. While working for Concern he provided technical support to the CRAM project in Chad on the interactions between agriculture, livestock, climate change and child nutrition, which triggered his interest in the One Health debate. Paul has a MSc in Tropical Agroforestry, lived in East Africa and Nepal and has worked for a range of National Governments, the EU and development NGOs.

Dr Monica Gorman is lecturer in Agricultural Extension and Innovation in the School of Agriculture and Food Science since September 2013. From a farming background in Co Wicklow, Dr Gorman has held senior management roles for a range of organisations in Ireland and in Africa including Oxfam, Self Help Africa, APSO, IUCN, Irish Aid and Concern Worldwide. She has done extensive consultancy work for a range of clients in the area of rural development, adult education, communications and organisational change management.

Isabella Rae, Ph.D, is the Agriculture and Food Systems Lead in the Development Cooperation and Africa Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland. Prior to joining the Department in 2022, she worked as an independent Policy and Evaluation Consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the UN Evaluation Group (UNEG) and the World Bank (WB). From 2009 to 2020 she worked for an international non-governmental organisation – Self Help Africa (SHA) – first in the role of Head of Programmes and then as Head of Policy, Research and Evaluation. Prior to joining SHA, she held the position of Legal Officer with FAO in Rome. She has published and lectured in areas of food and agriculture, governance and human rights.

David in his current role provides technical guidance and support to Concern’s food security and livelihoods humanitarian and development programmes including on crops, livestock, fisheries as well as cash-based approaches and livelihoods support. David has many years’ experience mostly in humanitarian interventions managing programmes focusing on cash-based assistance, agricultural production and livelihoods recovery and also programmes focusing on resilience to climate and conflict related disasters focusing on Climate Smart Agriculture, livestock and pastoralism, agroforestry and environmental protection. David has worked diverse contexts during his field-based roles such as the Sahel region, South Sudan, Nord Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Horn of Africa and West Africa and currently in his roles as adviser has expanded to include supporting teams across Concern’s countries of operation including the Middle East, Asia, Central Africa and the Caribbean. He also a strong interest on integrating nutrition, conflict sensitivity and protection and safeguarding approaches into food security programmes. Prior to joining Concern, David was a migrant caseworker with Migrant Rights Centre Ireland. David is also the co-chair of the Agriculture Working Group in the Global Food Security Cluster. David has a Masters in Humanitarian Action from UCD/Network On Humanitarian Assistance and a Bachelors in Agricultural Science from UCD. Prior to working in the humanitarian sector, David worked for different environmental NGOs, in the public sector and various farming roles.

Don’s focus is on income generation activities and livelihoods projects. He supports Misean Cara member organisations by assessing funding applications, liaising with Development Mentors, and taking part in monitoring field visits. Don has a Degree in Civil Engineering from Dublin Institute of Technology and a Master’s Degree in Charity Management from Dublin City University (DCU). Don has over 15 years of International experience in the Emergency and Development sector, working in South Sudan and East Africa between 2005 and 2009. He is passionate about the SDGs, Soil health and building back better.

Director of the Masters in International Development Practice, School of Geography & Ryan Institute for Sustainable Development –University College Galway

Dr Una Murray lectures in policy and programme planning, and lectures on gender and climate justice on a MSc in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. Una began her international development career at FAO in the 1990s, and since 2000 began working more broadly as an Evaluator and Consultant across a wide range of UN organisations (e.g. ILO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNECE, UN Vienna), as well as bilateral organisations (including Irish Aid, DFID), focusing on topics such as migration, labour, social protection, gender, and social inclusion across a range of sectors (agriculture, climate). Most recently, in 2022, Una worked with the FAO NENA office to be the key editor for the NENA region State of the World Land and Water Resources. She worked as a gender advisor on FAO projects including a Lao PDR on a rice-fish aquaculture for UNDP/FAO project; an FAO/EU earthquake rehabilitation project in the Philippines (CASCADE).