Dr Lisa Moran was appointed as Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Care and Early Childhood Studies in October 2021. Prior to this, she was a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Social Sciences at Edge Hill University, Lancashire UK. She has taught in Higher Education since 2004 in NUI Galway, St Angela’s College, Sligo; the Institute of Technology, Sligo, Edge Hill University and Oscail at Dublin City University. She is an external examiner and has participated in several expert panels on quality assurance and programme evaluation at Staffordshire University, UK and is an expert on narrative, biographical research methods.

Dr Moran holds a BA (Hons.) in Sociological and Political Studies and English Literature from NUI Galway (2000-2003). As part of her MA in European Integration at the Centre for European Studies (CEUROS), University of Limerick she read History, Sociology, Law, Politics, External Relations, Economic Theory and Economic Policy. Her research dissertation on the implementation of the Surface Water Directive in Connemara received First Class Honours (supervisor Dr Patricia Conlan, School of Law, University of Limerick).

Her PhD on environmental policy implementation and rural knowledge in Connemara completed at the School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway received prestigious IRCHSS funding and she was also the recipient of a Postgraduate Scholarship from the Faculty of Arts NUI Galway in 2005. Since her PhD, Lisa worked extensively in research; in policy and programme evaluation particularly in Child and Youth Research. She was the Lead Researcher on a flagship national study of youth cafes (funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Irish Research Council). She was also a Lead Researcher on the Baboro BEAST process studies and a researcher on the Evaluation of the Restorative Practice Programme of the Childhood Development Initiative, Tallaght.

Dr. Moran's first Postdoctoral Research role was in the Rural Economy Development Programme (REDP) on the ICONMAP study, an inter-professional research study with the Department of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) on the co-design of HACCP based tools for the control and prevention of Paratuberculosis in dairy and drystock cattle in Ireland. In her second postdoctoral role, she was the Lead Researcher on the Outcomes for Permanence and Stability for Children in Care study and the Evaluation of Family Support and Childcare Services for Children and Families deemed as ‘vulnerable’ and ‘at risk’ in rural Ireland (e.g. asylum seekers, children from Travelling communities). She completed this at the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre NUI Galway.

Dr. Moran has extensive experience in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and postgraduate research supervision. She taught Sociology and Politics modules at the School of Political Science and Sociology from 2004 to 2017. She was a Lecturer in Sociology and Social Research Methods at IT Sligo and a Lecturer and Acting Course Leader in the BA in Child and Youth Studies at St Angela’s College Sligo/NUI Galway. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Academic Practice from the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) and completed a Master of Academic Practice degree at CELT, NUI Galway in 2016. She is co-supervising two PhD projects in the Department of Social Sciences and is a Director of Studies and Research Supervisor for MRes students also.