Affiliated Researchers
Peter Walsh - Research Project Manager
Peter acts as a manager and assistant for CyberSocial Research lab projects. He is a graduate of the anthropology masters programme at UCC. His research interests explore the overlapping domains of psychological health, religious experience, creativity and technology. Past projects have included ethnographic research in the world of virtual reality and an exploration of dancing as a method of psychological healing in modern industrialised societies.
Iryna Stavynska - Researcher
Iryna holds a master’s degree in Folklore from the University of Oregon (USA). Her previous research projects explored the intersection between folklore, popular culture, and supernatural belief, and the role of Ukrainian folklore in the resistance towards the Russian invasion. As part of the CyberSocial project, she works on the dis/enchantment of technology in Cork City.
Molly McGrath
Molly is a PhD candidate at University of Cologne on a DFG funded project examining new material transitions in upland rural Laos. She also works in academic web design and moderation for various projects in Ireland and Germany. She has previously worked as a research assistant in the CyberSocial Research Lab and was Administrator for the Atlantic Anthropological for the 2023 edition. Her previous fieldwork concentrated on South America focusing on the coca plant with time spent particularly in Bolivia and Peru.
Conach Gibson-Feinblum - Research Assistant
Conach is a graduate of the Master of Arts Anthropology programme at University College Cork and works as a research assistant on the CyberSocial project. She has a passion for feminist epistemologies, cultural heritage and creative methodologies, particularly concerning narrative work. Her previous research experience includes an ethnographic project capturing Ukrainian narratives of forced and sudden migration through the lens of food.
Lucy-Mae McSweeney
Lucy-Mae McSweeney is a PhD candidate on the multidisciplinary project ‘Digitising Biodiversity: Landscape-Animal-Digital-Human Translations’ at Trinity College Dublin where she is researching the translation of non-human interactions via digital means to human understanding. By carrying out ethnographic fieldwork, Lucy’s research explores how STEM researchers centralised around the theme of biodiversity in the University process and interpret information from the more-than-human world.
Lucy-Mae holds an MA in Anthropology from UCC where her thesis explored human-animal relations with a focus on the cultural practice of beekeeping in the south-east of Ireland.