Dr Breffní Lennon is a Research Fellow¹ of the School of Engineering and Architecture, a senior researcher with the CPPU Group based in the Sustainability Institute at University College Cork, Ireland.

Working at the intersection of human geography, science and technology studies, political ecology, and sustainability science, his research examines the geographies of sustainability transitions with a particular focus on the transformation of energy systems in response to climate change and wider planetary environmental challenges. He is also interested in how knowledge practices co-produce the possibilities, politics, and uneven geographies of decarbonisation while reconfiguring relationships between society, nature, and technology.

In 2025, he led the UCC COP30 delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference which took place in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025.  

He is a principal investigator and co-investigator on numerous high impact national and internationally funded research projects, securing research income totalling €2,180,743.

Currently, his work on:

CLIMATUDE (EPA: 2025-28), involves undertaking a programme of engaged research with Irish citizens to co-create a better understanding of Irish people's attitudes, beliefs and values relating to climate change and how these impact the actioning of effective climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in Ireland.

¹Functional academic seniority, direct equivalent: (UK) Principal Research Fellow / Academic Grade 9/10; (US) Research Associate Professor / Senior Research Scientist; (Central Europe) Senior Group Leader / Independent Investigator | Forschungsgruppenleiter TV-L E15 or Higher; (Australia) Level C/D Researcher.

As Research Fellow and principal investigator with the CPPU Group, based in the Sustainability Institute at University College Cork, his research interests include: 

• Critical Political Ecology and Environmental Geography
• Global Resource Geographies and Socio-Technical Transitions
• Energy Citizenship, Radical Democracy, and Spatial Power Dynamics
• Trans-Regional Energy Justice and Socio-Ecological Inequalities
• Historical Geographies of Energy, Infrastructure, and Spatial Memory
• Decolonial and Indigenous Geographies of Environmental Governance

Dr Lennon lectures on a range of topics, including:

energy geographies, community engagement, sustainability, planning & local government, landscape studies, agency, nature/wildness issues, identity, and climate change.

He has co-designed modules for the teaching programme of the Department of Geography, Mary Immaculate College (MIC) and University of Limerick (UL) Ireland, 2021/2022, lecturing on:

• GY4758 Geography of the Developing World

He has also contributed to the teaching programme of the Department of Geography, University College Cork, from 2007–2015; both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, lecturing on the following modules:

• GG1005 Physical Geography: An Introduction to the Earth and the Atmosphere
• GG1013 Environmental Geography
• GG6403 Contemporary Migration and Diaspora Studies MA
• GG1003 Cultural Geography: An Introduction to Place, Space and Globalisation (2012/2013)
• GG1015 Applied Geography
• GG2038 Geographical Research Issues and Methods
• GG2040 Geographies of Environment and Sustainability

He has provided dissertation supervision support to final year undergraduate students and acted as independent external academic advisor to PhD candidates for MIC’s Research and Graduate School. In addition, he has been a Comité de Suivi member for the Institute of Geography and Sustainability at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.