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4. Maria Kirrane

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Biography

Maria holds a BSc. in Environmental Science from UCC and a PhD in Ecology, undertaken between UCC and the United States Department of Agriculture in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

As the Head of Sustainability and Climate Action for UCC, Maria is tasked with delivering the University's Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (2023-28) which seeks to embed the SDGs across all functions of the University.  She led the University in becoming the first in the world to be awarded a Green Flag from the Foundation for Environmental Education, and the first outside of North America to be awarded a STARS Gold rating from the Foundation for Environmental Education.  Maria establised and manages UCC's Green Campus Living Laboratory Programme which supports staff and students to develop and deliver their own sustainability projects.

Maria worked as a programme manager for the Natural Environment Research Council in the UK, and then as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Limerick.  The latter post explored the role of universities in driving the transition to a more sustainable society.

Research interests are principally around environmental education and innovative approaches to improving environmental performance, circular economy and biodiversity conservation.

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Research Interests

Sustainable Development, Education, Green Campus, Living Lab, Ecology, Behaviour

Research Grants

	Project	Funding Body	Start Date	End Date	Award
	“A Revolution in How We Live”: An Interdisciplinary Workshop on Creative Approaches to Education for Environmental Understanding and Responsibility	Irish Research Council	20-OCT-19
	Developing a Connected Curriculum: Integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals within UCC’s Curriculum.	National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

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Publications

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Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2018)	'Evaluations of the Removal of Varroa destructor in Russian Honey Bee Colonies that Display Different Levels of Varroa Sensitive Hygienic Activities' Kirrane, MJ;de Guzman, LI;Whelan, PM;Frake, AM;Rinderer, TE (2018) 'Evaluations of the Removal of Varroa destructor in Russian Honey Bee Colonies that Display Different Levels of Varroa Sensitive Hygienic Activities'. Journal Of Insect Behavior, 31 :283-297 [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'Phenotypic and Genetic Analyses of the Varroa Sensitive Hygienic Trait in Russian Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Colonies' Kirrane, MJ;de Guzman, LI;Holloway, B;Frake, AM;Rinderer, TE;Whelan, PM (2015) 'Phenotypic and Genetic Analyses of the Varroa Sensitive Hygienic Trait in Russian Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Colonies'. Plos One, 10 [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'Brood removal influences fall of Varroa destructor in honey bee colonies' de Guzman, LI;Rinderer, TE;Frake, AM;Kirrane, MJ (2015) 'Brood removal influences fall of Varroa destructor in honey bee colonies'. Journal Of Apicultural Research, 54 :216-225 [DOI] [Details]
	(2012)	'Age and reproductive status of adult Varroa mites affect grooming success of honey bees' Kirrane, MJ;de Guzman, LI;Rinderer, TE;Frake, AM;Wagnitz, J;Whelan, PM (2012) 'Age and reproductive status of adult Varroa mites affect grooming success of honey bees'. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 58 :423-430 [DOI] [Details]
	(2011)	'Asynchronous Development of Honey Bee Host and Varroa destructor (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) Influences Reproductive Potential of Mites' Kirrane, MJ;De Guzman, LI;Rinderer, TE;Frake, AM;Wagnitz, J;Whelan, PM (2011) 'Asynchronous Development of Honey Bee Host and Varroa destructor (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) Influences Reproductive Potential of Mites'. Journal of Economic Entomology, 104 :1146-1152 [DOI] [Details]

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Book Chapters

	Year	Publication
	(2020)	'“Reaching for the STARS”: A Collaborative Approach to Transparent Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education, the Experience of a European University in Achieving STARS Gold' Kirrane, MK; Pelton, C.; Mehigan, P; Poland, M; Mullally G.; O'Halloran, J. (2020) '“Reaching for the STARS”: A Collaborative Approach to Transparent Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education, the Experience of a European University in Achieving STARS Gold' In: Walter Leal Filho Paulo R. Borges de Brito Fernanda Frankenberger (eds). International Business Trade and Sustainability. Switzerland: Springer. [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'A Journey in Sustainable Development in an Urban Campus' Darren Reidy, Maria J. Kirrane, Barrie Curley, Denis Brosnan, Stephan Koch, Paul Bolger, Niall P. Dunphy, Michelle McCarthy, Mark Poland, Yvonne Ryan Fogarty, John O’Halloran (2015) 'A Journey in Sustainable Development in an Urban Campus' In: Walter Leal Filho, Luciana Brandli, Olga Kuznetsova, Arminda Maria Finisterra do Paço (eds). Integrative Approaches to Sustainable Development at University Level: making the links. Berlin: Springer International Publishing.   [DOI] [Details]

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Professional Activities

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Honours and Awards

	Year	Title	Awarding Body
	2009	NUI Travelling Studentship Award	National University of Ireland

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Conference Contributions

	Year	Publication
	(2019)	European Universities Association Annual Conference, Maria Kirrane; John O'Halloran; Mark Poland; Ger Mullally (2019) A whole-insitution approach to embedding sustainability at University College Cork, Europe's first STARS Gold university. [Oral Presentation], European Universities Association Annual Conference, Sorbonne University . [Details]
	(2019)	Sustainbility and Green Campus, Gerard Mullally, Maria J. Kirrane, John O’Halloran, Mark Poland (2019) UCC and the SDG’s: steps on the journey. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Sustainbility and Green Campus, National University of Colombia, Medellin , 30-SEP-19 - 30-SEP-19. [Details]
	(2019)	Sustainability and Green Campus, Gerard Mullally, Maria J. Kirrane, John O’Halloran, Mark Poland (2019) UCC and the SDG’s: steps on the journey. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Sustainability and Green Campus, National University of Colombia, Bogota , 02-OCT-19 - 02-OCT-19. [Details]
	(2019)	Lecture to the Faculty of Engineering , UNAL Bogota, Gerard Mullally, Maria J. Kirrane, O’Halloran, Mark Poland and Cliona Maher (2019) Sustainability as a Learning Process: integration through teaching and research. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Lecture to the Faculty of Engineering , UNAL Bogota, UNAL, Bogota , 01-OCT-19 - 01-OCT-19. [Details]
	(2019)	Guest Lecture, Gerard Mullally, Maria J. Kirrane, O’Halloran, Mark Poland and Cliona Maher (2019) Sustainability as a Learning Process: integration through teaching and research. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Guest Lecture, National University of Colombia, Bogota , 01-OCT-19 - 01-OCT-19. [Details]
	(2019)	Sustainbility and Green Campus, Gerard Mullally, Maria J. Kirrane, John O’Halloran, Mark Poland (2019) UCC and the SDG’s: steps on the journey. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Sustainbility and Green Campus, National University of Colombia, Medellin , 30-SEP-19 - 30-SEP-19. [Details]
	(2019)	Sustainbility and Green Campus, Gerard Mullally, Maria J. Kirrane, John O’Halloran, Mark Poland (2019) UCC and the SDG’s: steps on the journey. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Sustainbility and Green Campus, National University of Colombia, Medellin , 30-SEP-19 - 30-SEP-19. [Details]
	(2019)	Ireland Day, Gerard Mullally, Maria J. Kirrane and Denis Barrett (2019) Experiences from a Learning University within a Learning City. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Ireland Day, EAFIT, Bogota , 02-OCT-19 - 02-OCT-19. [Details]
	(2019)	Symposium on Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education, Maria Kirrane; Chris Pelton; John O'Halloran; Mark Poland; Pat Mehigan (2019) Reaching for the STARS: a collaborative approach to transparent sustainability reporting in Higher Education, the experience of a European University in achieving STARS Gold. [Oral Presentation], Symposium on Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education, The University of Edinburgh . [Details]
	(2019)	UI Green Metric International Workshop 2019, Maria Kirrane (2019) IWGM 2019. [Conference Organising Committee Member], UI Green Metric International Workshop 2019, Cork . [Details]
	(2018)	EAUC Annual Conference 2018: Collaborations for Change, Maria Kirrane; Ger Mullally; John O'Halloran (2018) Facilitating interdisciplinarity for life-long and life-wide learning at University College Cork. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], EAUC Annual Conference 2018: Collaborations for Change, Keele . [Details]
	(2018)	UI Green Metric International Workshop, Maria Kirrane (2018) Issues and innovations in managing water. [Chair Sessions at Symposia], UI Green Metric International Workshop, Semerang Indonesia . [Details]
	(2017)	EAUC Annual Conference 2017: Global Goals, Local Actions, Maria Kirrane; William Horan, Bernadette O'Regan; Richard Moles (2017) ave the Greatest Impact Resource Details Related Resources Other resources that you may be interested in pdfAchieving Excellence in a Sustainable University Refurbishment pdfEAUCS Conference 2017 Keynote - Glasgow Caledonian University, the University for the Common Good videoGUPES Green Gown Awards 2016 – Asia and the Pacific – Aklan State University – Finalist Local Actions - What Policies will have the Greatest Impact. [Oral Presentation], EAUC Annual Conference 2017: Global Goals, Local Actions, Lancaster . [Details]

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Committees

	Committee	Function	From / To
	Cork City Council Environment, Water and Amenity Strategic Policy Group	Member	2019 / 2024
	Irish Universities Association Sustainability Working Group	Member	2019 /
	Academic Strategy Priority One Working Group	Member	2019 /
	Environmental Research Institute Academic Advisory Board	Member	2019 /

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Education

	Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
	2009	University College Cork	BSc.	Environmental and Earth System Science
	2014	University College Cork	PhD	Ecology

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Teaching Activities

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Teaching Interests

Education for Sustainable Development
Ecology