Aoife Feeney
BAgrSc 2016, MAg Extension and Innovation 2021
Aoife Feeney
As the recipient of a 2022 Nuffield Scholarship Award, Aoife Feeney travelled to Canada, Netherlands, UK, Italy, New Zea...
Sustainability Leaders
Niamh O’Gorman
BE 1999
Niamh O’Gorman
Accenture has announced the appointment of Niamh O’Gorman as Sustainability Lead for Accenture in Ireland. O’Gorman...
Siobhán Byrne Learat
BA Arabic and Spanish 1986, MA 1987, DipBS 1988, MBA 2003
Siobhán Byrne Learat
Siobhán Byrne Learat’s Adams & Butler is a world leader in sustainable and responsible travel, with the support of lo...
Margaret Berry
MSc Marketing Practice 2011
Margaret Berry
Margaret Berry has been appointed Head of Sustainability at food company Kepak Group, having previously held roles with...
Laura Costello
BA English and Philosophy 2013
Laura Costello
Laura Costello, Strategy Director, Purpose & Planet at ThinkHouse, has been named by Forbes as one of 43 people chan...
David Fennelly
BAgrSc 2020
David Fennelly
David Fennelly, a full-time dairy farmer from Emo in Co. Laois, has been awarded a 2023 Nuffield Ireland Farming Scholar...
Tara McCarthy
MBS Marketing 1991
Tara McCarthy
Tara McCarthy has been named Global Vice-President of Environmental Social and Corporate Governance at Alltech, a global...
Martín Von Hildebrand
BSocSc 1968
Martín Von Hildebrand
Ethnologist and anthropologist, Dr Martín von Hildebrand, has spent his career leading efforts to secure indigenous ter...
Aoife Feeney
BAgrSc 2016, MAg Extension and Innovation 2021
As the recipient of a 2022 Nuffield Scholarship Award, Aoife Feeney travelled to Canada, Netherlands, UK, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia and Australia to undertake research on how to positively influence farmers on action for water quality. Now Agricultural Policy Officer of the Netherlands Embassy in Ireland, Feeney’s role includes public diplomacy, and bilateral communication and co-operation between the Netherlands and Ireland. She was previously Farm Sustainability Lead with Carbery Group
Niamh O’Gorman
BE 1999
Accenture has announced the appointment of Niamh O’Gorman as Sustainability Lead for Accenture in Ireland. O’Gorman will take responsibility for shaping and delivering Accenture’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy locally, as well as supporting Accenture’s clients in the delivery of their ESG commitments. Niamh has been with Accenture for 22 years, and is a managing director in Accenture’s financial services practice, a role which she will continue with alongside her focus on the firm’s sustainability agenda.
Siobhán Byrne Learat
BA Arabic and Spanish 1986, MA 1987, DipBS 1988, MBA 2003
Siobhán Byrne Learat’s Adams & Butler is a world leader in sustainable and responsible travel, with the support of local communities and their economies always to the forefront. Byrne Learat led the travel company through the pandemic so successfully that 2022 revenues were up 43% on 2019. Now she has been recognised with two prestigious awards: Condé Nast’s Travel Specialist 2022 and Travel + Leisure A-List Advisor 2023. The business plan for Adams & Butler was Byrne Learat’s MBA thesis.
Margaret Berry
MSc Marketing Practice 2011
Margaret Berry has been appointed Head of Sustainability at food company Kepak Group, having previously held roles with Bord Bia and Kerry Group. Berry has designed and delivered modules in Global Food Business Strategy for UCD Smurfit Business School, and for the Leaders’ Sustainability Acceleration Programme, to build capability and climate literacy at board and management levels. She is also a board member of Gurteen Agricultural College, the largest farm in Ireland, and chair of its sustainability committee.
Laura Costello
BA English and Philosophy 2013
Laura Costello, Strategy Director, Purpose & Planet at ThinkHouse, has been named by Forbes as one of 43 people changing advertising for the planet globally. A passionate climate advocate, last December, she presented to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action on behalf of Purpose Disruptors Ireland on the role the advertising industry can play in relation to achieving the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1.5 degree global warming target.
David Fennelly
BAgrSc 2020
David Fennelly, a full-time dairy farmer from Emo in Co. Laois, has been awarded a 2023 Nuffield Ireland Farming Scholarship, a travel and study bursary designed to promote agriculture and rural development through the promotion of awareness, education and leadership in the agriculture sector. Fennelly will use the bursary to explore alternative swards, inputs and grazing strategies which may provide solutions to the challenges facing pasture-based dairy farms.
Tara McCarthy
MBS Marketing 1991
Tara McCarthy has been named Global Vice-President of Environmental Social and Corporate Governance at Alltech, a global leader in animal health and nutrition. Prior to joining Alltech, McCarthy was CEO of Bord Bia. McCarthy will have a key role in supporting Alltech’s vision of Working Together for a Planet of Plenty™, which underscores the ability of the agri-food sector to provide enough nutritious food for all while revitalising local communities and replenishing the Earth’s natural resources
Martín Von Hildebrand
BSocSc 1968
Ethnologist and anthropologist, Dr Martín von Hildebrand, has spent his career leading efforts to secure indigenous territorial rights and the protection of the Amazon tropical forest in Colombia. Now 80, he is writing his memoirs and has handed over the day-to-day running of Gaia Amazonas, the NGO he founded to help the indigenous people to establish their own government, to the second of his three sons. He remains involved as an adviser