I am a Technologist in the Forestry Development Department at Teagasc, Ashtown Research Centre, Dublin, a post I have held since 2023. I holds a BSc in Biological Sciences from Maynooth University, an MSc by Research from University College Dublin (flooding impacts in winter barley), and a PhD in Botany from Trinity College Dublin, where I studied population genetics and trait evaluation in Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis). My research applies computational biology to forest tree genomics, with a particular interest in complex polyploid genomes and how their structure affects population genetics and breeding. Current work includes an assembly of the allotetraploid downy birch, landscape genomics and genomic offset modelling in Sitka spruce, UAV-based phenotyping for ash dieback, and somatic embryogenesis for the conservation of threatened broadleaves. I manage two biotechnology laboratories and supervises PhD students and a research technician. I am Chairperson of the Society of Irish Plant Pathologists and Ireland's National Councillor to the International Society for Plant Pathology, Deputy Coordinator-designate of IUFRO Working Party 2.04.10 (Forest Genomics), and a Management Committee member of COST Action CA25165 (CONSENSA).