TASC Staff

Dr Shana Cohen is the Director of TASC.

She has been director since 2017. In addition to her directorship, she works directly on projects involving social inclusion, economic inequality, democracy, and climate justice. For instance, she is drafting a report for Safe Ireland on how social policy can support victims of DSGBV. She has also worked on the social prescribing programme with the Coop in NEIC and policy reports on migration and social solidarity in the EU, as well as the effect of the financial crisis on the top 10% of income earners in Ireland, Sweden, Spain, and the UK. In addition to her work at TASC, Shana is an Affiliate Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge.

She has published on social action and activism, as well as social change in North Africa, her original area of academic research.She has a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and an AB from Princeton University. 

Before coming to TASC, she was Deputy Director of the Woolf Institute in Cambridge. In her role at the Institute, she became engaged with interfaith and intercultural relations in Europe, India, and the Middle East.

Beyond academic research, Shana has extensive experience working with NGOs and community-based organizations in a number of countries, including Morocco, the US, the UK, and India. This work has involved project design, management, and evaluation as well as advocacy. She has consulted for the World Bank, the Grameen Bank Foundation, and other private foundations and trusts.

Expertise

• Economy and society 
• Social policy and inequality 
• Enhancing civil society impact and capacity 
• Evaluation and programme design
• International development 

Forthcoming publications

(2021) “The evolution of civil society in Morocco,” in Handbook on the Maghrib, edited by George Joffe, New York: Routledge. 

(2021) “The local political and social consequences of austerity,” in Handbook on Austerity, Retrenchment and the Welfare State, edited by Bent Greve, London: Edward Elgar Publishing. 

Recent publications

(2019) “Solidarity and Democracy: Lessons from Social Activism Under Austerity in the UK,” Journal of Anthropological Theory: Anthropological Theory Commons, December 9, 2019. 

(2019) “Global Policy and Social Solidarity: Making the link for social change,” special issue of Global Social Policy in memoriam for Bob Deacon, Ed. Alexandra Kaasch.

Current Research

Robert Sweeney is the senior economic policy analyst. His work centres on topics related to inequality. He has completed projects on a variety of topics including income distribution, housing, care, corporate tax, low pay and working conditions.

Research Themes

• Economic inequality
• Housing
• Working Conditions
• Macroeconomic policy

Background

Robert has a PhD in economics from University of Leeds in which he examined the growth of the financial sector in Europe. He also has degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University. He has published and refereed in international journals in economics and political economy.

Sara has worked extensively in programme management in the community and voluntary sector. She has managed educational projects in Africa and Asia and worked with refugees, migrants and at-risk young people in Ireland. She has a MA in International Politics and Human Rights from London City University, and a PhD in Sociology from Trinity College Dublin where she researched trust and cohesion in post-conflict communities using qualitative and quantitative methods. As well as her work with TASC, Sara coordinates the Sociology and Social Policy Module for Trinity Access Programmes

Sara leads social inclusion research at TASC. Current projects centre on the social and structural effects of inequality, social exclusion, and poverty. This includes work on financial resilience and domestic violence, as well as developing work on cross border cooperation and the intersection between social inclusion and climate action. Research findings contribute to policy debate and the evaluation and development of programmes and interventions.

Research Themes

• Social effects of poverty and inequality
• Financial resilience
• Digital literacy
• Domestic violence
• Conflict and reconciliation

Róisín is working on TASC’s climate justice stream. This area of research focuses on community-led climate action that seeks to address inequality. Current projects focus on cross-border community climate action, the intersection between climate change and health in disadvantaged communities, and phase II of The People’s Transition. 

Background

Róisín has recently completed an MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society at Dublin City University. Passionate about community-led solutions to the climate crisis, Róisín’s research analysed social capital in community sport and its potential to act as a unifier collective action. In collaboration with the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Róisín used qualitative research methods to examine phase 1 of the GAA’s Green Clubs Programme which saw more than 40 clubs—in urban and rural areas—across the island of Ireland work in partnership with a local authority or organisation to engage in community-led environmental initiatives across the areas of Energy, Water, Waste, Biodiversity and Transport.

Róisín holds a BA in Global Business and Spanish from Dublin City University and Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid and has extensive experience in the not for profit sector working as a Fundraising Coordinator with Greenpeace Australia Pacific, and more recently as a Direct Marketing Executive at Concern Worldwide. Alongside her work at TASC, Róisín also volunteers with local grassroots climate action groups.

Current Research

Adeelia Goffe is the senior researcher for health. Her work centres on topics related to health and social care access pathways and associated outcomes for marginalised groups. She is currently working on social prescribing in vulnerable/marginalised communities and migrant health needs.

Research Themes

• Health inequalities
• Social determinants of health
• Social inclusion
• Marginalised/vulnerable groups
• Infectious disease epidemiology

Background

Adeelia has a PhD in Biology from the Georg August University of Göttingen (Germany). She also has degrees from Roehampton University (UK) and Cornell University (USA). She has published and refereed in international journals in behavioural ecology and virology. Prior to joining the TASC team, she worked on a number of research projects for the HSE and has lectured at Trinity College.

Deirdre has joined the Climate Justice Team of TASC as part of an Irish Research Council Employment-Based PhD Award. She is examining the role of place-based communities in enacting a Just Transition to decarbonisation in Ireland. This research will explore, through a series of case studies, how community-level initiatives on Just Transition can achieve sustainable development. Prior to this, Deirdre worked in international development, in advocacy for sustainable development and in monitoring and evaluation of development projects. 

Kieran is a senior researcher in climate justice with TASC. Kieran is working on Phase II of the People’s Transition. This project focuses on community-led climate action that seeks to address inequality. Over the next 3 years, TASC will engage with 30 communities across the island of Ireland to support the development of bottom-up climate solutions.

Background

Kieran holds a BA in Geography and Politics and International Relations from UCD and an MSc in Environmental Policy from UCD. Kieran’s Masters thesis focused on the attainment of a just transition for coal dependent jurisdictions. Kieran spoke about this research in an interview with ABC news in Australia in 2019 and featured on a podcast called the Anthill prior to the COP26 negotiations in Glasgow in 2021.

Kieran is currently completing a PhD with UCD, Teagasc and BiOrbic, the national bioeconomy research centre. The title of Kieran’s thesis is ‘A farmer centred approach to understanding the Irish bioeconomy in the context of just transition’. The aim of Kieran’s study is to identify measures which can facilitate the involvement of economically vulnerable agricultural sectors in the bioeconomy. In this study, Kieran has used social network analysis alongside a range of interviewing methods to map Ireland’s growing bioeconomy and identify the views and experiences of farmers relating to the bioeconomy. Kieran’s study also considers the role of power in the bioeconomy and the need to ensure that the bioeconomy does not replicate the power imbalances present within parts of Ireland’s agricultural sector.

Research Themes

• Just Transition
• Environmental Policy
• Bioeconomy
• Agriculture

Recent publications

Harrahill, K. and Douglas, O., 2019. Framework development for “just transition” in coal producing jurisdictions. Energy Policy, 134. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.110990.

A warm welcome to Conor Henry, who joined the team in February and will be working as the project coordinator and trainer with the Financial Resilience Training programme. Conor has worked with a number of regional and national organisations, including Galway Rape Crisis Centre, Jigsaw, Limerick Youth Services, Pieta House, and Kildare Youth Services, designing and delivering a range of programmes for schools and communities on topics such as consent and sexual violence, mental health, nonviolent resistance, LGBT+ awareness as well as a range of community development initiatives.

Louisa joined us from the fundraising team at Dublin Simon Community where she managed Dublin Simon’s food sponsorship programme 'Food for Simon', working closely with many key industry players to address food waste as part of their CSR strategies. Other roles with Dublin Simon involved partnerships with SSE Airtricity, Kepak and Lidl Ireland.

Louisa is a passionate advocate for the growth and future sustainability of TASC and is dedicated to ensuring our mission continues to thrive for generations to come.

If you'd like to hear more about how you can support TASC, or have a suggestion about how we might fundraise, please reach out. We'd be delighted to hear from you. 

John comes to TASC with a background in senior office administration.

He has previously worked in large academic, health and government organisations in both Australia and Ireland.

With specialist experience in corporate event management for local government and the charity sector he is a key staff member for TASC fundraising activities.

System administrator for Salesforce CRM for TASC. 

Rob is a researcher in climate justice with TASC, where his work focuses on community-led climate action through the People’s Transition. Rob has a BA in Economics and Political Science from Trinity College Dublin and a MA in Spatial Justice from Maynooth University. His recent academic research has examined the unique place of curlews in national conservation policy and the emerging geographies of offshore energy. He has previously worked in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as a member of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service. 

Maria (Marysia) Pachowicz is TASC's Junior Researcher on Health. They have a B.A. in Psychology & Mathematics and an M.Sc. in Applied Psychology from Trinity College Dublin. They have conducted research on body image and disordered eating among sexual minority women for their undergraduate thesis, and on the experiences of accessing mental healthcare among people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder for their Masters thesis. They are a member of the “Sharing the Vision: A Mental Health Policy for Everyone” Reference Group of Service Users and Family Members, where they advise the Department of Health on the implementation of mental health policy, ensuring that the voice of the service user is at the centre of all decisions. They also sit on the Health Research Board Expert Group tasked with producing Ireland’s first National Mental Health Research Strategy. Aside from this, they have experience of working in disability services, as well as extensive experience in activism, particularly in relation to LGBTQ+ rights in Ireland and abroad.

Camilla is Communications, Marketing, and Events Assistant at TASC.

She holds a BA in History and Anthropology from the University of Bologna, Italy. During her undergraduate years she enriched her studies at Lund University, Sweden, with a focus on social sciences. She is currently pursuing a dual MA in International War and Conflict Studies at University College Dublin and the University of Potsdam, Germany.

Passionate about effective communication and graphic design, Camilla brings international experience to her role. She is responsible for TASC’s online presence, she manages the newsletter and the website. Morover, Camilla designs TASC’s reports.