Research
My research interests are in New Religious Movements, nature-based spirituality, environmental policy, addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, the role of social movements, and decolonial and anti-colonial theory. I am specifically interested in the ways religion and spirituality serve as catalysts and motivators for change in social movements.
Before starting my PhD at University College Cork, I did a year of postgraduate work at University of Washington and Vancouver School of Theology, studying Indigenous philosophies, the Indigenous language of Lushootseed, and Indigenous ethics.
PhD Thesis
“We Only Want the Earth”: Exploring Ecology and Irish Folklore with the Queer Community on the River Lee
The title of this study is taken from a poem written by Irish revolutionary James Connolly; “Our demands most moderate are/ We only want the earth.”
Scientists are telling us that we must shift how we interact with the natural world or face severe consequences. This study looks at how queer and transgender people in Cork define their spirituality in relationship to the landscape along the River Lee, using Irish folklore. This community-based, popular education project will explore relationship to land and story in Irish folklore by transgender and queer participants in Cork, through discussion based study and artistic expression.
Some of the larger research questions I am bringing are: Do trans people’s understanding of gender and nature have something to offer to challenge modernist dualisms? Do these understandings of the intersections of spirituality and nature offer tools that might be useful for addressing the polycrisis in Ireland and across the globe?
Due for completion in 2028.