Partners

University College Cork

The School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences in UCC leads LIVE. UCC brings expertise in a range of environmental sciences, science communication, public engagement and research to the project. The University already has a strong presence on the Iveragh peninsula, which they hope to expand with long-term environmental programmes. They also oversee the project governance and reporting to the funding body.

Dr Pat Meere

Dr Meere is the head of the Geology department in UCC. He is a co-leader of the project. He has a passionate interest in structural geology and in engaging the public with all aspects of geology. He has previously studied the geology of the Skelligs and other important features of the Iveragh landscape.

Dr Fidelma Butler

Dr Butler is a senior lecturer in ecology at UCC. She is a co-leader of the project. Her work includes a range of ecological topics from soil to bats. She has a strong interest in involving members of the public in research and developing citizen science projects. Within LIVE, she is leading the Knowledge Gathering work package.

Lucy Taylor

Lucy is the LIVE project manager. Based in Ireland, she manages the administrative aspects of the project and oversees the implementation of project activities on both peninsulas. 

Orla Breslin

Orla is the local operations coordinator for the Iveragh peninsula. With a background in art, crafts and digital humanities, Orla develops and implements community and stakeholder engagement initiatives in Kerry. She is working to ensure that communities on the peninsula drive the project and that the project responds to their needs and inputs. 

Kerry County Council

Through the Tourism Office, Kerry County Council will provide a link to broader tourism, community and sustainability policies at county and national level and also to their extensive tourism networks. They will manage the development of vibrant, collaborative marketing campaigns for the project and for the Iveragh peninsula and will ensure the sustainability of the LIVE network beyond the lifetime of the project.

John Griffin

John is the Kerry County Tourism Officer and has a wealth of experience in developing successful tourism strategies. He brings his insights into local and national tourism trends and policies to the LIVE project.

Marketing Officer

[The Marketing Officer] develops and implements the co-marketing strategies for the LIVE project. [The marketing officer] also monitors the impact of LIVE on each peninsula to ensure that the project is constantly learning and adapting to its target market and providing maximum benefit to the two regions. 

South Kerry Development Partnership

South Kerry Development Partnership is a community-led development organisation that works with a bottom up, collaborative approach to rural development. Within LIVE, they provide strong links to communities and to other community development initiatives on Iveragh. They are tasked with creating the digital and non-digital assets for tourism and education that will be the main tangible outputs of the project.

Seán de Buitlear

Seán is the EU Projects and Communications officer with SKDP. He is the main link between LIVE and the wider SKDP network. He brings experience and expertise in ensuring maximum impact of community projects and communications initiatives to the LIVE partnership. 

Bangor University

Bangor University’s Sustainability Lab worked with the Welsh partners to co-develop the #Ecoamgueddfa, the first ecomuseum in Wales and, to our knowledge, the first digitally driven ecomuseum in the world. The team at Bangor have been involved from the beginning in co-developing the LIVE project. They oversee the implementation of the cross-cutting themes in the project to ensure that LIVE achieves a green, clean, prosperous economy while respecting people and their cultures. They are also responsible for marketing the #Ecoamgueddfa and the project communication strategy. LIVE has found a new home in the University's School of History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences.

Dr Einir Young 

Dr Young is passionate about sustainability and will lead the cross-cutting work of embedding sustainable thinking and working throughout the project. Collaboration, integration, and involvement are critical to ensure that Pen Llŷn and Iveragh are treated as homes as well as destinations. 

Gwenan Griffith

Gwenan is the LIVE Digital Community Officer. With a background in fine art, community development and digital inclusion, Gwenan leads the dissemination and outreach work package, responsible for the development of the LIVE Ecomuseum brand and delivering effective marketing capacity in Llŷn. She will be working closely with the Ecomuseum partners and surrounding businesses to embed a cohesive marketing approach and will deliver digital marketing training to project partners.

Gwynedd Council

Gwynedd Council's Environment Department facilitates landscape-scale partnership working on the Llŷn Peninsula and develops and implements projects that bring environmental, community and economic benefits to the area. 

Arwel Jones 

Arwel co-ordinates the LIVE project in Llŷn. He will work with partners, stakeholders and communities to implement the outputs of the LIVE project. He will ensure that the area benefits fully from the project, developing and sharing good practice that will contribute to securing a prosperous future for the area and its residents.

National Trust

The National Trust is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England and Wales. The Snowdonia and Llŷn branch of the National Trust have over 10 years of experience in delivering collaborative projects which focus upon conservation and visitor experience. They have been integral partners of the Ecoamgueddfa since its establishment in 2014, with two out of the seven heritage sites owned by the National Trust. Within LIVE, they will be responsible for leading and co-developing the educational outputs.

Laura Hughes

Laura Hughes is the National Trust Visitor Operations and Experience Manager for Snowdonia and Llŷn. With a background in ecology, her focus has shifted to running the diverse visitor operations including busy coast and countryside access points and car parks, a new visitor centre, historic buildings and gardens. 

Robert Parkinson

Robert Parkinson is the Programming and Partnership manager for the National Trust on the Llŷn peninsula. With a degree in physical geography and experience as a primary teacher, he specialises in developing educational opportunities in the outdoors with local schools. His focus as a part of the LIVE project will be creating more opportunities for schools, visitors, local groups and volunteers to experience and learn more about the natural world, history and heritage on Llŷn.

Knowledge Gatherers

During the LIVE project, a team of geologists, ecologists and science communicators will join the team to focus on specific aspects of the natural environments of the Llŷn and Iveragh peninsulas. The focus of their work will be decided in consultation with members of each community. This will underpin the main outputs of the LIVE project, which will be resources for tourism and education that will engage residents and visitors with aspects of their rich natural heritage. 

Anna Collyer 

Anna studied Earth Sciences at Trinity College Dublin and has a keen interested in geology and paleoenvironmental studies. As part of LIVE, she is working on Valentia Island where she is using geology and geomorphology to reconstruct past environments and landscapes from the Devonian Period nearly 400 million years ago to the Last Ice Age.

Fiach Byrne 

Fiach is a Zoology graduate from University College Cork. He has been fortunate enough to study some vastly different species in depth in Ireland and abroad. With LIVE, he will be studying the winter foraging behaviour of the Red-billed Chough, a member of the crow family, and modelling its distribution in Iveragh.

Soli Levi 

Soli specialises in Public Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS), creating maps of people's perceptions and experiences across landscapes. Originally from Greece, she has been living in Cork for the last 3 years. She loves languages, SCUBA diving, writing poetry, and all things nature.

Ben Porter 

Ben is an ecologist, wildlife photographer and science researcher from a small, wind-battered island off the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales. Most at home in the field, Ben is particularly interested in birdlife and projects seeking to restore and protect our precious natural environment

Linda Lyne 

Linda grew up with Killarney National Park and the Black Valley as her playgrounds, so she has always had a strong connection to nature. Attenborough inspired her wildlife adventures from Antarctica to Galapagos and beyond before she gained Zoology degree. Her research interests include Ireland’s only native reptile, the common lizard.

Jonty Storey

Illustrator, designer and photographer, Jonty has lived on Pen Llŷn for the past 20 years.  Taking inspiration from his surrounds, he has helped craft the new branding for the LIVE project as well as illustrating and 

photographing the place he calls home.