Ancient Woodlands Ireland

John received a PhD in Forest Ecology from University College Cork and has completed Post Doctoral Fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution and Trinity College Dublin. John leads the Forest Ecology & Global Change Lab at Maynooth University. John also currently serves as the coordinator of the IUFRO working party on Forest Biodiversity and Resilience. John is the Principal Investigator of the Ancient Woodlands Ireland project and will lead research on indicators of ancientness in Ireland's woodlands. 

Helen is an experienced palaeoecologist who has undertaken research on long-term ecological dynamics of woodland. Her research seeks to understand long-term woodland ecology from the perspective of internal ecological dynamics and human influenced changes. For palaeoecologists long-term means thousands of years of change rather than hundreds as this provides and essential perspective for a full understanding of ‘ancient’ in ancient woodlands. Helen has worked in various roles and across disciplines to improve the long-term ecological information provided to land managers and policy-makers. Helen is leading the palaeoecology work on the Ancient Woodlands Ireland project.

I am a palaeoecologist with a background in Archaeology. I have a keen interest in past vegetation and climate dynamics, and in landscape evolution. I am interested in marginal and upland cultural land-use, tracing the origins of present-day landscapes and defining sustainable economic practices by analysing long-term vegetation evolution. I am also interested in how the knowledge of past vegetation dynamics can contribute to the restoration and sustainable management of sensitive ecosystems. I have participated in multiple palaeoenvironmental research projects in Portugal, Scotland and Ireland. In the “Ancient Woodlands Ireland” project I will be using a palaeoecological multiproxy approach to verify the presence and composition of ancient woodlands. 

Emmeline is an experienced ecologist and botanist who joined the Ancient Woodlands Ireland palaeoecology team at Maynooth University in January 2026. Emmeline has worked in a variety of terrestrial and aquatic environments carrying out independent published research on botany and pollination ecology as well as working with agri-environmental schemes and completing a wide range of wildlife and habitat surveys across Ireland and Northern Ireland over the last 5 years in a professional environmental consultancy environment. Emmeline is completing her PhD as part of the AWI team, going back in time through the ‘pollen record time machine’ in order to better understand the environmental and vegetation dynamics that have shaped our woodlands today. She is particularly interested in ancient woodland indicator species and phytosociological perspectives.

Prof Walsh is the lead of the Antimicrobial resistance Research Centre at Maynooth University. Her team investigates how the microbial biodiversity of different biomes impact the antimicrobial resistome and how change impacts the microbial diversity. Prof Walsh will lead the soil microbiome analysis for the Ancient Woodlands Ireland project. DNA sequencing and bioinformatic comparisons of woodland soils will be used to investigate if they contain microbial signatures specific to ancient soils. 

Eamon Darcy is a historian of early modern Ireland. His research focuses on Irish cultural, political, and social history from c.1550 until c. 1700 within a broader Atlantic World, British, and European framework. He is also editor of Archivium Hibernicum. As part of this project, Dr Darcy will co-supervise a PhD student in HIstory alongside Dr Annaleigh Margey, DKIT. This will lead to the production of an inventory of ancient Irish woodlands as identified from archival evidence that survives across Britain and Ireland. 

Annaleigh Margey is a historian of early modern Ireland. She received her PhD in History from the University of Galway and has held postdoctoral fellowships at Trinity College Dublin, University of Aberdeen, Institute of Historical Research, London and Maynooth University. Her research focuses on Irish history and historical geography from c.1540-1650. As part of this project, Dr Margey will co-supervise a PhD student in History with Dr Eamon Darcy, MU. This will lead to the production of an inventory of ancient Irish woodlands as identified from archival evidence that survives across Britain and Ireland. 

Luke McMahon is a PhD researcher working on the Ancient Woodlands Ireland project. He received his Masters in History from the University of Galway, with a focus on the Early Modern period. He is co-supervised by Dr Annaleigh Margey and Dr Eamon Darcy for the Ancient Woodlands Ireland project looking to produce an inventory of ancient Irish woodlands as identified from archival evidence that survives across Britain and Ireland.

Jesko is a Data Technologist in the Agrifood Business and Spatial Analysis Department. Before joining Teagasc Jesko was a researcher at Trinity College Dublin with a background in environmental sciences.
In particular his interests lie in applied spatial analysis, land use dynamics, greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation options in agriculture, the circular bioeconomy, as well as ecology and biodiversity.
Jesko is leading WP2 in the Ancient Woodlands Ireland project, responsible for extracting long-established woodlands from the historic OS maps. 

Areesha Asghar is a skilled Geospatial Data Analyst, currently contributing her expertise to Teagasc in Dublin, Ireland. At Teagasc, Areesha's responsibilities include digitization of historic maps and identification of ancient woodlands in Ireland using machine learning techniques. Her professional experience is distinguished by her work with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, where she played a pivotal role in advancing geospatial data management and analysis across various environmental and agricultural projects at national level. Areesha holds a Master’s degree in Remote Sensing and GIS from National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan.

Paul joined the Woodland Trust in 2021 as Public Affairs Manager, where he leads the organisation’s policy, evidence, and advocacy work in Northern Ireland. The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, dedicated to protecting and restoring ancient woodlands, and planting trees to fight climate change and support wildlife. In 2007, the Woodland Trust launched the ‘Back on the Map’ project, which created a Northern Ireland Ancient Woodland Inventory. Paul will contribute to the project sharing data from the Back on the Map project, enhancing its impact in Northern Ireland and beyond.