Stephen is a Professor in the Discipline of Economics at the University of Galway. He is also the director of the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit. He has a PhD in Environmental Economics from Stirling University, Scotland. He is currently the Principal Investigator on a number of large multi-disciplinary projects including the Marine Institute-funded Valuing and understanding the dynamics of Irelands Ocean Economy, MASTS and UISCE Tourism projects. He is also a partner on a number of EU-funded projects including the EU Horizon Europe funded REDRESS project, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture-funded WIN-BIG project and the EU-funded MPA Ireland LIFE project.

Stephen has a strong background in applied environmental natural resource economic research and extensive work experience in econometric modelling. He has previously worked as an environmental economist in the Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc. Stephens main research interest is in microeconomic behaviour analysis, related to marine agriculture and rural development policy and his work has been published by a number of the top-ranked journals in the fields of marine, environmental and natural resource economics.

Stephen’s main research interest is in applied natural resource economics and in particular in microeconomic behaviour analysis, related to marine and agricultural policy change. These areas of research lie at the intersection of economics and the natural sciences. Stephen has developed a number of very successful research projects that embrace this interdisciplinary ethos. Stephen is also the Director of the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) in the School of Business and Economics at University of Galway. Currently, there are 5 Post Doctoral researchers employed within the school in this research unit. Other permanent members of staff from across the college are also involved in the work of the unit. The main research focus of the unit is on the economic importance of coastal and off-shore marine environments. This involves examining the economic utility of the marine environment (e.g. transportation, recreation) and ecological value (e.g. fisheries, aquaculture) derived from the productivity of associated ecosystems. The coastal and contiguous marine environment surrounding Ireland and the EU in general provides the geographical focus for the research of the unit. Consideration of the human dimension in the management of marine ecosystems is also a critical component of all research projects within the unit.

In the current academic year, Stephen is responsible for teaching, coordinating and examining the following modules:

• Econometrics (EC3105, Third ArtsCommerce)
• Marine Economics (EC429, Third ArtsCommerce)
• Ireland in the Global Economy(EC423, Third ArtsCommerce)
• Econometrics (EC3105, Third ArtsCommerce)
• M. Global Environmental Economics)
• Global Issues in Agriculture, Marine and Renewable Energy Economics (EC5116, M. Global Environmental Economics)

In addition, he currently supervises 5 PhD students and organises a field trip each year for the M. Global Environmental Economics students on the national research vessel the RV Tom Crean. He also supervises the dissertations of a number of M. Global Environmental Economics students. These are taught Masters Students who complete a minor thesis. He has, in the past, been responsible for teaching, coordinating and examining the following modules:

• Public Sector Economics (EC526, M.Econ.Sc)
• Natural Resource Economics and Policy and Health Economics
• Marine Economic and Policy (EC5101, M.Econ.Sc)
• Agricultural Economics and Policy (EC5100, M.Econ.Sc)
• Statistics (EC275,Second Arts)
• Intermediate Macroeconomics (EC268, Second CommerceArts)
• Irish Economy (Third Arts)
• Environmental Economics (Third ArtsCommerce)
• Managerial Economics (Second ArtsCommerce)
• Introduction to Mathematical Economics (Second ArtsCommerce)
• Macroeconomics (Masters in Business Administration)
• Economics (Higher Diploma in Business Studies)
• Environmental Economics (Component of Masters in Rural Development)
• Economics (First year Commerce in the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, both Macroeconomics and microeconomics, over two semesters)