Meet Our Expert Team

David Murphy

David is the CEO and co-founder of ERINN Innovation. He has over 23 years’ experience in funding procurement, science communication and research management within the European research landscape.

Michael Papapetrou

Michael is a co-founder and Executive Director at ERINN Innovation with responsibility for all pre-award services. He has over 20 years’ experience in research and innovation (R&I), having worked in developing concepts, putting together consortia, raising funds and managing R&I projects.

Michael has coordinated 10 European funded projects in the fields of clean energy and alternative water sources, and has been directly involved in hundreds of other projects, proposals and grant funding courses. He co-founded ResourSEAs which is bringing  results from a European project on critical raw materials to the market. He has over 40 peer-reviewed publications and he is a co-inventor of 6 patents.

Laura Richardson

Laura is a professional accountant with diverse practical experience across multiple sectors and a demonstrable record of achievement in driving commercial success in complex organisations, implementing contemporary financial management practices and business systems. She has experience in Multinational organisations, Health and Education sectors at senior level in strategic development, change management and leadership.

Laura is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and holds and International Executive MBA from Smurfit Graduate Business School at UCD.

Marieke Reuver

Marieke has held leading roles in knowledge management and transfer, dissemination, communication and stakeholder engagement of large European science projects (mainly FP7, H2020) for almost 15 years. She oversees a dedicated team of project officers currently working on EU-funded projects covering from sustainable aquaculture and the microbiome to CO2 conversion into value-added products. As work package lead for 25 EU-funded projects Marieke has vast experience of the project lifecycle, from successful application writing to final exploitation activities.

She chairs several IPR and Innovation Management Boards to support the protection, promotion and exploitation of project results. Marieke has a background in Animal Science (MSc) with an aquaculture specialisation.

Reid Hole

Reid is co-owner and member of the board of directors at ERINN Innovation, where he brings extensive international industry and academic expertise, particularly in the agriculture and aquaculture sectors. With a strong commitment to promoting and implementing innovation, he serves as a strategic advisor and mentor.

Reid has held key managerial positions in the aquaculture industry, including Corporate Director of Research and Innovation, Corporate Director of Technology Transfer, and Corporate Director of Food Safety. Previously, he served as the Prorector of Research at Nord University in Norway. With his diverse background spanning both the private and public sectors, he has served on the boards of various organizations and has overseen multiple merger and acquisition processes, including two successful flotations. Reid holds a DSc. degree in animal nutrition and has pursued additional post-education courses, including studies at INSEAD.

Cliona Ni Cheallachain

Cliona has over nine years’ experience in the areas of project management and knowledge transfer as well as all areas of proposal development. She has been the project manager for several large-scale European and nationally funded projects and has extensive experience in delivering knowledge transfer projects across multiple sectors.

Cliona is experienced in funding procurement as well as SME support including application writing for H2020 and SME instruments. She has also organised multiple large-scale multidisciplinary stakeholder events, including providing facilitation support.

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Jane Maher

Jane is a Senior Project Manager and the Proposal Services Manager at ERINN Innovation. She leads the team in delivering on pre-award services, including proposal development, reviews and training, as well as delivering on a portfolio of EU-funded projects.

Since 2014, Jane has had broad experience in science communication and teaching within academia and non-profit sectors. She has an in-depth understanding of the research environment, particularly Horizon Europe, which has been developed through years of working directly on projects and engaging with researchers at proposal development stage.

Jane has a PhD from Trinity College Dublin which explored how gender is addressed in climate change policy and how that is implemented on the ground in climate-vulnerable regions.

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Rebecca Doyle

Rebecca is a Senior Project Manager at ERINN Innovation and a specialist in environmental science. She leads the land use team in ERINN Innovation, with a portfolio that includes a LIFE IP peatland project, a H2020 wetland project, a Horizon Europe Mission Soil project, Peatland Finance Ireland and Ireland’s National Rural Network.

Rebecca has over 5 years experience working in sustainability and conservation within the European research landscape. She has over 10 years’ experience working in nature conservation, sustainability and science communication. She has a BSc in zoology and a MSc in wildlife conservation and management.

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Eva Greene

As a Senior Project Manager of the Knowledge Transfer (KT) Team, Eva builds on over eight year’s experience working in national and European research communication, dissemination and exploitation to oversee the delivery of the company’s KT portfolio, alongside other projects. Her knowledge and innovation management skills stem from a strong interest in sustainability and a background in ecosystem science and policy (MSc.).

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Emma Bello-Gomez

Emma has more than 15 years’ experience in EU-funded projects. She has been the communication, dissemination and exploitation work package leader in several H2020/FP7 projects and is currently carrying out this role in different H2020 projects, many of which are focused on aquaculture.

Emma has wide experience in organising and facilitating large multi-stakeholder events and has provided training in proposal writing and management for different organisations. She has worked as Senior Project Manager in several companies in Spain, Ireland, Belgium and France both in securing funding and managing projects. Her professional qualifications include Development Cooperation and Project Management (MSc) and Coastal Zone Evaluation and Management (MSc). She is fluent in English, Spanish and French.

Sive Finlay

Sive is ERINN Innovation’s Communications Manager and a specialist in science communication. She leads a team who provide strategic communications support for all of ERINN Innovation’s activities including in the areas of brand development, digital media, events, stakeholder and public engagement.

Sive has a broad background as a research communicator with international leadership and management experience in academic, education, research, STEM outreach and non-profit sectors. She has a BA in Zoology and a MSc. in Evolutionary Biology.

Annette Wilson

Annette has more than 10 years’ experience in science communication, teaching and training in the area of the ocean and all things marine. She holds a PhD in Oceanography and a BSc in Marine Sciences from NUI Galway, during which she gained extensive knowledge on the impact of anthropogenic activities in the deep-sea, as well as communicating scientific results to a variety of audiences. Annette also has experience supporting and coordinating international training and capacity building programmes in ocean-atmosphere-climate interactions.

She currently carries out and leads the communication and dissemination activities for several H2020 funded projects implementing activities to increase the overall impact of projects dealing with grand societal challenges.

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Lisa Johnson

Lisa is an environmental scientist with particular interests in meteorology, marine science and sustainable blue economic growth. She has over 20 years’ experience in the scientific research and higher education sector, specialising in research impact acceleration, stakeholder engagement and strategic project and change management.

She holds a BSc in Environmental Science and MSc in Atmospheric Sciences.

Keegan Porter

Keegan is a Senior Knowledge Transfer and Impact Officer with ERINN Innovation. He has over seven years’ experience in developing, tailoring and administering the proven ERINN Innovation knowledge transfer methodology for National and EU projects and has delivered training and guidance documents on the inclusion of knowledge transfer principles to several funding agencies. He has led communication and exploitation work packages for projects across different sectors including aquaculture, blue economy adaptation planning, ocean observation and desalination.

Keegan has a B.S. in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University, an MSc in Environmental Policy from University College Dublin and a Higher Diploma in Fisheries and Aquaculture Business from South East Technical University.

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Avril Hanbidge

Avril has experience with science communication, dissemination, stakeholder engagement and exploitation activities for several scientific projects, implementing activities to increase the overall impact of projects dealing with current grand societal challenges.

Avril leads the communication, dissemination and exploitation activities for GENIALG, ERGO, EURION, ASSEMBLE Plus and MARBLES, EU-funded projects in the marine, human and environmental health and sustainability sectors. She has experience of the full project lifecycle, also supporting with funding proposal development.

Avril is a member of several Innovation Committees to support the protection, promotion and exploitation of project results. With an academic background in freshwater ecology, she has previously worked in freshwater resources research, conservation project management and protection of inland waters. She has a BSc in Environmental Biology and a MSc in Applied Environmental Science.

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Caecilia Manago

Caecilia is an Economist (B.A.) and Geographer (M.A.) with over 10 years of experience in R,D&I with UNO, industry, Governmental Agencies, NGOs, SMEs in different countries around the globe. Caecilia has broad experience in Technology Transfer, proposal development, grant awarding and project management, both on application (H2020, HorizonEurope) and donation (GEF, NGEU), in international, multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder environments. She has co-edited and co-authored publications, organized large-scale events, being speaker at conferences as well as leading consortia, technical tasks and teams.

Caecilia is fluent in English, Spanish, French, German and Italian.

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Tara Murphy

Tara is overseeing the communication, dissemination and exploitation work of the SEArcularMINE project, alongside writing and reviewing funding bid proposals.

She has a background in Neuroscience and over 20 years’ experience in the education sector leading teaching teams, developing policy and curriculum, and delivering training with a demonstrable record for systems and outcome improvement across diverse stakeholder groups.

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Sarah Sarsfield

Sarah is a Senior Project Officer at ERINN Innovation. She has led the communication, dissemination and exploitation activities in a number of H2020 projects and is currently working on the Horizon Europe CSA PREP4BLUE. Sarah is part of the Knowledge Transfer team with ERINN and has supported on several national contracts, working closely with funding bodies and government agencies to generate impact from scientific research.

Sarah has a BA in Zoology and a MSc in Management and has several years experience in public facing science communication roles.

Pamela Cardillo

Pamela has over 15 years’ experience in international project management and training particularly in the not-for-profit and education sectors as well as EU funded projects. She holds a B.A. (Hons) in Philosophy and Political Science, an M. Phil in International Peace Studies, and is a qualified project manager. Her interest areas include education and training, science outreach, and plant-based proteins.

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Olga Ormond

Olga is a Senior Project Manager at ERINN Innovation and a specialist in research funding and impact, project management, and research knowledge transfer.

Olga supports the development and review of numerous research proposals on multiple topics, and often leads on communications, dissemination and exploitation in EU projects. She has over 14 years’ professional experience in Irish and European RD&I with extensive experience in Horizon Europe, H2020 and FP7. Areas she has covered include Digital, Industry, Sustainable Economies and Societies including telecommunications, network systems, data security, internet of things, electronics, manufacturing, nanotechnology, materials, metrology, Industry4.0, and water technologies with a particular focus on the environment (energy efficiency, water treatment, reduced waste, zero-defect manufacturing, durable materials). She is an engineer and research fellow (PhD in Mobile and Wireless Networks).

Rochelle Caruso

Rochelle is a Senior Project Officer at ERINN Innovation and a specialist in innovation implementation and stakeholder communication.

Rochelle leads the communication, dissemination and exploitation activities in the SCORE and ESCAPE H2020 projects, and delivers on a number of ERINN’s pre- and post-award trainings and Horizon Europe proposal reviews. Rochelle has a broad background in education, global health and science communication and holds an MSc in Global Health and a BSc in Biochemistry.

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Laoise Dillon

Laoise is a Project Officer for the Horizon 2020 project WaterLANDS and the LIFE Integrated Project Peatlands and People.

She completed her BSc in Marine Sciences at NUI Galway, where she developed a special interest in deep-sea biodiversity and conservation. She then completed an MSc in Environmental Policy at UCD, where she primarily focused on the impact of environmental policies on community resilience.

Laoise has previously worked for ERC-funded, multi-disciplinary research projects and has experience in marine science communications, just transition research, environmental history data management and policy analysis. She has a keen interest in the merging of sciences and humanities to reach a variety of audiences and stakeholders.

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Donnchadh Kindlon

Donnchadh is a Project Officer at ERINN Innovation with experience in marine social sciences, nature-based solutions and social innovation. He leads the communication, dissemination and exploitation activities on the Horizon Europe EmpowerUs project. He also works on the Horizon Europe A-AAgora project, contributing to activities on innovation upscaling and stakeholder engagement.

Donnchadh has a BA in Zoology and a MSc in Development and Rural Innovation.

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Rebecca Pflanz

Rebecca is Project Officer at ERINN Innovation working mainly on the Horizon Europe Projects Nettag+ and BlueRemediomics.

Rebecca has a broad background in nonprofit campaigning, climate finance and digital marketing. She previously worked as a campaigner and email marketer for Change.org, the largest online petition platform worldwide and for a Berlin-based climate-impact startup. She has a BA in International Business and a MA in International Marketing Management.

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Karla Corrales

Karla is a Project Officer for the Horizon Europe project Cure4Aqua and the Horizon 2020 project AquaExcel 3.0. She completed her BSc in Biology at the University of Valencia, where she developed a special interest in marine biodiversity, conservation, and sustainability. During her thesis, she explored the link between endangered species behaviours and climate change. She then completed an MSc in Biodiversity: Conservation and Evolution at UV, where she continued to explore the link between marine conservation and citizen science. She has previously worked for research centers and start-ups, where she gained experience in multi-disciplinary projects, specifically in areas such as science communication and digital marketing. She is currently enrolled in a master’s degree in digital marketing and communication at IMF Smart Education, where her main goal is to expand her knowledge in these areas to communicate scientific outputs to wider audiences.

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Casey Borklund

Casey is a Project Officer at ERINN Innovation and a specialist in environmental education. In her role as project officer, she conducts science communication and knowledge transfer for various EU-funded projects, including SCORE, and supports ERINN Innovation’s training programmes.

Casey has a broad background within the areas of conservation education and community outreach, with experience at zoological institutions, non-profit organisations, and universities. She holds a BSc in Fish and Wildlife Conservation, an MSc Certificate in Environmental Policy and Management, and an MSc in Biodiversity Conservation.

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Mathilde Vidal

Mathilde is a Project Officer at ERINN Innovation, primarily engaged in the MARCO-BOLO project and contributing to the company’s knowledge transfer methodology. Holding a PhD in Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, along with an MSc in Ethology, she has developed a profound appreciation for the impact of biodiversity loss.

Mathilde’s academic journey has equipped her with the skills to effectively engage diverse audiences and convey complex scientific concepts in a clear and accessible manner. Additionally, her experience in publishing has emphasized the significance of making scientific knowledge widely accessible through Open Access initiatives.

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Róisín Fitzgerald

Róisín completed her BSc in Human Nutrition from University College Dublin where she developed a special interest in the link between global planetary health, the conservation of natural resources, and opportunities for sustainable development in the agricultural sector and food production systems. She then completed a postgraduate degree in Environmental Sustainability along with an array of additional certificates in environmental policy, climate justice, marine conservation, and transdisciplinary communication. Róisín has previously worked at non-profit organisations, innovation hubs, education organisations and research centres, and has experience in community outreach, facilitation, event co-ordination, systematic research, and data analysis. She has a keen interest in highlighting the interconnectedness of natural sciences, human health, and humanities to help empower a variety of audiences to embrace collaborative action for sustainable development.

Sarah Glascott

Sarah is a Communications Officer at ERINN Innovation, working primarily on the CAP Network Ireland project. She has a BA in English and History and an MA in Journalism, with a background in journalism and content marketing. With an avid interest in environmental issues facing society, Sarah is currently working towards a Masters in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society.

Brian Cloughley

Brian currently leads the Communications Team, where he supports brand development, digital strategy, and crafts ideas that drive engagement. With over 25 years’ experience as a creative communications specialist, Brian’s expertise in visual communication and his love for storytelling play a key role in advancing ERINN Innovation’s creative vision.

Passionate about the environment, Brian believes in the power of innovative, nature-based solutions to bring positive change to communities. He holds qualifications in Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership from UCD Innovation Academy, as well as Environmental Law and Climate Change from The Law Society of Ireland. This diverse background shapes his strategic approach, which he now channels into impactful projects.

Anita O’Sullivan

As Senior Communications Officer, Anita works across most of the ERINN Innovation project portfolio, with a focus on design and content creation on a variety of media and platforms. She has a BA in Visual Communications, an MA in Publishing as well as more recent professional qualifications, including a Certificate in Applied Digital Marketing.  

Ali Crighton

Ali Crighton is part of the CAP Network team at ERINN Innovation, leading the Organics Pilot for Knowledge Transfer in Ireland’s organic sector. She holds a BSc in Economics and Psychology from Trinity College Dublin and a Master’s degree in Sustainability Science, Policy, and Society from Maastricht University.

Ali has experience in renewable energy as a financial modeller, and as a researcher. After working in the Netherlands, she returned to Ireland to explore sustainability in the agri-food sector, particularly within the dairy industry. Her diverse background fuels her current passion for sustainable food systems and agri-environmental initiatives.

Ladina Jeisy

Ladina Jeisy is a Project Officer at ERINN Innovation, specialising in the dissemination, exploitation, and communication of scientific research. She primarily works on the SURIMI project, part of the Horizon Europe EU Digital Twin Ocean initiative, and contributes to science communication in other EU-funded projects.

Ladina holds a BSc in Applied Social Sciences from the University of Galway, where she focused on marine social sciences. Her professional experience includes conducting research within Ireland’s fishing industry and facilitating marine conservation education through various non-profit organisations and citizen science initiatives.