Biography

BE and PhD in Energy Engineering, University College Cork, Ireland. Connor completed his doctoral thesis “Developing participatory methods in energy system modelling and planning”, while a member of the award-winning Dingle Peninsula 2030 and Imagining2050 projects. His main research focus was to explore ways of working across social/technical disciplines and with a diverse range of stakeholders to collaboratively form energy and climate scenarios. Connor has since undertaken a number of projects at the local authority level such as supporting the development of a Case Study Paper with the Office of the Planning Regulator 'Climate Action and the Local Authority Development Plan' and performing a spatial analysis of Cork City Council's base emissions inventory.

More recently, he led the writing of the first Ireland Climate Change Assessment, Volume 2: Achieving Climate Neutrality by 2050. Similar to IPCC assessments this report will provide a synthesis of the academic literature to date with a focus on Ireland’s pathway to net zero emissions. It is a critical evidence base for national policy and also to identify key research gaps. Connor led the writing of 8 out of 9 Chapters: introducing global climate mitigation pathways and current sources of emissions in Ireland before summarizing the energy system choices by technology and sector, a review of studies on net zero energy systems and finally closing with key policy messages and research gaps identified. Connor's current research interest is to explore how equity and justice considerations can be brought into the energy system modelling process.