Secretariat
The Climate Change Advisory Council Secretariat provides secretarial and administrative services to support the work of the Council.
Climate Change Advisory Council Secretariat Organisational Structure
George Hussey
Secretariat Manager
George Hussey is a graduate of UCD (B.Comm, M.Econ.Sc) and the Open University (Diploma in Statistics). He has worked in both private and public sectors, including the Central Statistics Office and the Department of Housing Heritage and Local Government. He worked on national, EU and international climate change for 8 years and was part of Ireland’s delegation to the UNFCCC from 2009 to 2015. He worked on a broad range of topics such as EU and Kyoto Protocol Accounting, the ETS and Market Mechanisms, and the UNFCCC Secretariat Budget. His most recent role was as Senior Statistician in the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government prior to joining the Secretariat as Manager on secondment in July 2021.
Claire Camilleri
Communications and Corporate Governance Team
Claire Camilleri joined the Secretariat in February 2016. Previously, Claire worked as the Team Leader in the CPD Training division within Engineers Ireland and has also worked as the International Affairs Officer for the Irish Medical Organisation. Claire has a dual degree in Journalism and Social Science (Public Policy) from the University of Queensland.
Bryn Canniffe
Resilience Team
Prior to joining the Secretariat in November 2022, Bryn worked in a number of roles for the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism in Namibia and was closely involved in the national level implementation of the UN Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification there. Bryn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Development Studies.
Jodie Colgan
Resilience Team
Prior to her role in the secretariat as a Scientific Officer, Jodie worked as a policy analyst and researcher in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Jodie has worked in research positions at UCC, in the Sustainable Livelihood’s Centre, and with WorldFish Bangladesh. Jodie holds a BSc from UCC in International Development and Food Policy, a MSc from NUIG in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (MSc CCAFS) and a MSc (Res) from UCC in Food Business and Development. Jodie is a member of the Resilience Team at the Secretariat, with a remit that covers resilience, adaptation and the topics of Just Transition, sustainable food systems, and international development.
Kieran Craven
Carbon Budgets Team
Kieran has a research background in biogeochemistry with a PhD in sea level rise and PGDip Statistics from Trinity College Dublin, and a BSc in Environmental Biology and Geoscience from the University of St Andrews. Prior to joining the Secretariat in April 2023 as Scientific Officer in the Carbon Budgets team, Kieran was Marine Operations Manager for a metocean data company supporting Offshore Renewable Energy projects and investigating sediment dynamics in coastal and marine environments.
Katherine Dooley
Science Team
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Katherine Dooley holds a BA in Earth Sciences from Trinity College Ireland and an MSc in Climate Change from Maynooth University. Prior to joining the Secretariat in January 2024, Katherine specialised in international climate science and policy with the EPA acting as a support negotiator at IPCC and COP meetings and Irish delegate for the ICOS network. Katherine’s previous employment also includes Chapter Scientist with the IPCC (AR6 WG1 CH02), Research Assistant with Maynooth University along with experience in the geoengineering sector and public sector. Her work with the Climate Change Advisory Council Secretariat focuses on Science, Agriculture and Land.
Stephen Flood
Resilience Team
Stephen Flood has over 12 years’ experience in climate change, environmental policy and social science research. He holds a BComm International with German from UCD, an MA in European Studies from UCD’s SPIRe School of Politics and International Relations, a Postgraduate Diploma in Statistics from Trinity College Dublin, and a PhD in Geography from Maynooth University’s Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units (ICARUS). He has worked in senior research positions at the Climate Change Research Institute, at Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand (2014-2016), at Landcare Research also in Wellington (2016 to 2018), at the SFI Ireland Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine Research and Innovation (MaREI) at University College Cork (2018-2021), and at ICARUS (2021-2022). Stephen currently leads the Resilience Team at the Secretariat.
Meabh Gallagher
Carbon Budgets Team
Meabh Gallagher holds a BA Moderatorship in Geology and a PhD in Geochemistry from Trinity College Dublin. Prior to joining the Secretariat in February 2022, Meabh worked in the areas of environmental science research, climate and energy policy development, and energy regulation. Her work with the Climate Change Advisory Council Secretariat focuses on carbon budgeting and scenario modelling.
Ciara Hilliard
Communications and Corporate Governance Team
Ciara Hilliard joined the Secretariat in August 2021 as the Managing Administrator. Previously, Ciara has worked in various roles within the Environmental Protection Agency since 2005, most recently in the field of Emergency Preparedness. Ciara has a BA in Irish and Sociology from NUI Maynooth, a graduate diploma in Technical Communications from the University of Limerick and a diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy from PCI College.
Gina Kelly
Economics and Policy Team
Prior to joining the Secretariat as a Scientific Officer in November 2021, Gina worked as a Senior Analyst in the Commission for Regulation of Utilities in a number of roles from 2015-2021 and as a Researcher in the Science Gallery in 2014. Gina holds a B.A. in Earth Sciences, a Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Protection and an MSc. in Sustainable Development Practice.
Gina has previously worked on carbon budgets, the electricity and enterprise sectors in the Secretariat and now has a remit across the transport and built environment sectors along with economics and climate policy.
Eleanor Mathews
Economics and Policy Team
Eleanor Mathews holds a BAgrSc from the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science and an MSc in Environmental Sustainability from the UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science. Eleanor has previously worked in research management of both national and international research programmes including managing an EU H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Network in University College Dublin. Her work within the Climate Change Advisory Council’s Secretariat focuses on the built environment and transport sectors as well as economic and climate policy.
Phillip O'Brien
Science Team
Phillip O’Brien has a research background in Atmospheric Physics and Climate. A graduate of DCU and NUI, Galway, his principle area of interest is mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to the impacts of Climate Change. In previous work, he was responsible for the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions and removals associated with Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry.
Contact Us
Climate Change Advisory Council
McCumiskey House
Richview
Clonskeagh Road
Dublin 14
D14 YR62
Phone: 01 2680180
Email: info@climatecouncil.ie
Media Queries
If you have urgent media queries, please call 01 2680180.
Otherwise please send us an email via media@climatecouncil.ie. These emails are checked daily and will be responded to within 24 hours.
Submissions to the Climate Change Advisory Council
Should you wish to copy the Council into any submissions made, please send a copy of the submission to info@climatecouncil.ie