About me

I grew up in post-apartheid South Africa, a country still learning how to rebuild itself after generations of division. Where I’m from, policy wasn’t an abstract concept, it shaped everyday life. Governance changes affected livelihoods, community trust, and how resources were shared. It was impossible not to notice the connection between geology, land, politics, water, and people.

As a young geoscientist, I spent two years working as an exploration geologist in the Kalahari, a landscape as beautiful as it is fragile. That environment taught me more than textbooks ever could: science exists within a social world, and resource decisions carry real human consequences. I learned that good engagement isn’t a “nice idea”; it’s the difference between solutions that last and solutions that fail.

After moving to Ireland, I faced a new challenge: decarbonisation! Different place, different history, same truth - policies only work when people understand them, feel heard, and trust the process. This principle guided my work across industry, academia, government, and NGOs, contributing to national strategies and research programmes, engaging directly with members of the Irish Parliament, and publishing extensively on sustainability, mineral resources, and energy policy.

My career spans the full lifecycle of subsurface projects: field studies, structural mapping, drill-core logging, geochemical analysis, 3D resource evaluation, and advanced exploration workflows. I’ve worked closely with rural communities, project developers, and research teams, bringing together geological insight with practical engagement and risk awareness. Over time, this evolved into broader roles in sustainability, energy strategy, and programme management, where I coordinated interdisciplinary teams and helped shape evidence-based policy.

All of these experiences shape how I work today: a geoscientist who connects field practice with policy, community insight with technical understanding, and long-term sustainability with real-world operational needs. My goal has always been to make complex geoscience and energy topics understandable, transparent, and meaningful, especially for those who are most affected by resource decisions.