I am the Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the School of Political Science and Sociology (a target=_blank rel=nofollow href=http:www.childandfamilyresearch.ie)www.childandfamilyresearch.ie) .My main research interests are Family Support, Evaluation theory, and connecting research, policy and practice. I have the privilege of working for many years with practitioners, service managers and policy makers in the children and families field, and am passionate about the role of research in improving childrens lives. I teach at undergraduate, MA and Ph.D. levels inthe School of Political Science and Sociology.

I am Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre which undertakes policy and practice relevant research related tochildren, young people and families. My main academic research interests are Family Support, Evaluation Theory and connecting policy, practice and research.

I teach across undergraduate, taught MA and Ph.D. levels. My main focus at undergraduate level is SP3137 Youth and Society and SPL307SP2105 Youthwork Principles and Practice.At masterslevel, I teach SP571 and SP584 modules on children, young people and families to the MA in Family Support students, and SP6140 to MA in Children, Youth and Community students. At Ph.D. level, I co-direct the Structured Ph.D. in Child and Youth Research run as a collaboration between the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, School of Political Science and Sociology and the School of Psychology. I lead the module PS6115 Children in Global Policy and Research on the programme. I contribute to other modules offered by the School of Political Science and Sociology at post-graduate level.