Module Coordinators - TCD Masters in Development Practice
Prof. Padraig Carmody (MDP Director/Chair, TCD)
Padraig Carmody is an Associate Professor in Geography at TCD, from which he holds both a
B.A. in Geography and History and M.Sc in Geography. He completed his Ph.D in Geography
from the University of Minnesota in 1998. Subsequently he taught at the University of Vermont,
Dublin City University, and St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra. He also worked as a policy and
research analyst for the Combat Poverty Agency in 2002-2003. His research centres on the
political economy of globalization in Africa. His teaching interests are in development and
economic geography. He has taught both undergraduate and graduate classes on Africa, third
world development and globalization, in additional to human environment relations and
regional development.
Dr. Carmody coordinates the module GSHS40300 Globalisation & African Development, and is
Co-Director for the TCD MDP.
Dr. Susan Murphy (Assistant Professor in Development Practice, TCD)
Susan Murphy is a lecturer in international development practice with the School of Natural
Science in Trinity College Dublin. She is the programme coordinator for the TCD
Masters in Development Practice, and lectures on Climate Change, Human Rights, and
Development (in collaboration with the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice); and
Gender and Development. Susan sits on the steering committee of the Trinity International
Development Initiative, and is Hon Secretary of the Development Studies Association of Ireland.
Susan holds BA in Politics and History (1992-1995), and an MA (1995-1996) in Political Theory
from University College Dublin. From 1997-1998; 2008 - 2011 she worked as Programme
Coordinator on the European Masters in Human Rights and Democratisation in collaboration
with the European Inter-University Centre, Venice. Between 1999 and 2007 Susan worked as a
manager with Accenture, leading large technology infrastructure projects across Europe, China,
and India. Between 2008 and 2011 Susan completed her Doctoral training with the School of
Politics and International Relations, UCD. Her research interests are in international political
theory, social development, human rights and climate change, gender and social inclusion, and
justice.
Dr. Susan Murphy coordinates the module GSHS40230 Climate Justice in collaboration with the
Mary Robinson Climate Justice Foundation; GSHS40280 Gender & Development; GSHS40360
NGO Placement; Fieldwork Modules 1 & 2.
Dr. Gayle McGlynn, TCD
Gayle McGlynn is an Assistant Professor in Geography in Trinity College Dublin. She completed
both her BA and PhD in Geography in Trinity College Dublin, and also holds an MSc in
Quaternary Science from the University of London. Her main research interests relate to the
causes, patterns and impacts of climate and environmental change in tropical Africa. Much of
her research involves using sediment-based records to reconstruct past environmental change,
with a particular focus on the Albertine Rift of eastern Africa. She has extensive field
experience in eastern and southern Africa, having been involved in fieldwork in Kenya, Rwanda,
Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Following completion of her PhD in 2012, she worked as a
postdoctoral researcher on a project examining the relationship between
environmental/climate change and water-related vector-borne diseases in eastern Africa
Dr. McGlynn lectures on GSHS40220 Climate Change & Development.
Dr Fiona Larkan, TCD
Dr Fiona Larkan is a Medical Anthropologist who has worked in sub-Saharan Africa for more than 30 years. Her work relates to the social aspects of HIV and Chronic Illness in Ireland and South Africa, and additional research interests include ethnicity, identity, sexuality, risk and development. Currently based at the Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, as Director of the MSc Global Health, Fiona is also affiliated with the School of Public Health at University of the Western Cape in South Africa.
Dr. Larkan is the module coordinator for DP7007/POL41120 Global Health
Dr Trevor Hodkinson
Dr Trevor Hodkinson is an Associate Professor in Botany, Trinity College Dublin (1997-onwards) and currently heads the Botany Discipline in the School of Natural Sciences. He has a PhD in Botany and an MSc in Conservation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources, from the University of Birmingham UK. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1995-1997) on grass systematics including the bioenergy crop Miscanthus and the bamboos. He has since focussed his research on grass genetics and genetic resources including forage grasses and cereals. He runs the molecular laboratory in the Department and is also an active field botanist. He has grass identification/taxonomic skills, has named several grass species and has led many collecting trips for grass germplasm. He has over 100 peer reviewed publications (over 75 listed as ISI publications) and has been the editor of two books. He is an associate editor for the Journal ‘Plant Ecology and Diversity’ and was associate editor of ‘Journal of Plant Research’ until recently.
Dr Hodkinson is the module coordinator for DP7001/POL41210 Tropical Agriculture & Sustainable Development
Dr Matthew Saunders
Matthew Saunders is an Assistant Professor in Plant Sciences within the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Plant Ecophysiology (2005) and a M.Sc. in Environmental Science (2001) from Trinity College Dublin and has worked as a post-doctoral research fellow in University College Dublin (2006-2012) and the James Hutton Institute, UK (2012-2015). His research interests include the response of plants to changes in their physical, chemical and biological environments and how this information can be used to assess the resilience and adaptive capacity of terrestrial ecosystems to global environmental change. This work utilises an integrated experimental and model-based approach to assess the physiological and environmental processes that regulate plant productivity, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas dynamics, plant-water relations and energy budgets at the leaf, whole plant and ecosystem scale. Recent projects have focussed on the impacts of land use change, habitat restoration and extreme climatic events on carbon, water and nutrient dynamics in natural and agricultural ecosystems in both temperate and tropical climates. This work has directly contributed to the development of policy relevant, sustainable land management tools that are centred on the role of terrestrial ecosystems in the mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change. He has published in international peer-reviewed journals on matters relating to plant science and environmental change including Global Change Biology, Biogeosciences, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology and Ecology Letters.
Dr Saunders lectures on DP7001/POL41210 Tropical Agriculture & Sustainable Development
Dr Jos Elkink
Johan (Jos) Elkink works as Lecturer in Research Methods for the Social Sciences at the School of Politics and International Relations and the College of Social Sciences and Law's Graduate School since September 2007, teaching primarily modules on statistics and research methodology. Previous, he was a pre-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-MIT Data Center of the Institute of Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, where he consulted students and staff on the use of quantitative methods and software in their research.
Jos Elkink's research focuses on three different strands, all involving the application or development of statistical methods to the study of political science. The main research agenda concerns the development of techniques for spatial econometric analysis of political phenomena, building on his PhD thesis on the international diffusion of democracy. Recent research, with Raffaella Calabrese, concentrates on the estimation of spatial econometric models with discrete dependent variables. While spatial correlations are common in studies of policy diffusion, regime transitions, voting behaviour, etc., little attention has thus far been paid to the resulting complications in statistical estimation, in particular when the dependent variable is dichotomous in nature.
The second strand is concerned with the application of recent advances in statistical analysis to the study of political elites in Russia, in collaboration with Alexander Baturo (DCU), with a focus on understanding institutionalisation, personalisation, and patronage networks in the Kremlin. The third strand studies voting behaviour in particular in referendums in Ireland, building on previous collaboration with Richard Sinnott.
Aside from his research, Jos Elkink has functioned as Graduate School Director and as Vice-Principal for Internationalisation within the College of Social Sciences and Law (formerly College of Human Sciences), with close involvement in programme and policy development, as well as developing and implementing strategies for international student recruitment.
Dr Elkink is the module coordinator for DP7005/POL41480 Introduction to Statistics