In This Section
UCC researchers named among inaugural Ireland–Canada De Chastelain Scholars
- Professor Ronan Carbery and Dr Rachel Gough awarded scholarships to advance collaborative research in Canada.
- Water scientist and legal scholar Dr Kelsey Leonard, University of Waterloo, to undertake research visit to UCC.
Two University College Cork (UCC) researchers have been among the inaugural recipients of De Chastelain Scholarships, a new initiative launched by the Ireland Canada University Foundation. The programme is named in honour of General John de Chastelain, recognising his pivotal role in the Northern Ireland peace process.
The De Chastelain Scholarship programme will support a new generation of scholars, researchers and practitioners committed to peace, reconciliation and deepening connections between the two countries.
It is jointly funded by Global Affairs Canada and Ireland’s Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and brings researchers together to address shared challenges and build lasting connections between Ireland and Canada.
Spanning a diverse range of disciplines, the programme will award more than 50 scholarships over three years, strengthening academic ties between Ireland and Canada. The inaugural cohort brings together 18 scholars, with nine travelling from Ireland to Canada and nine from Canada to Ireland, connecting 25 institutions across both countries. The UCC De Chastelain Scholars – Ireland 2026 are:
- Professor Ronan Carbery, Cork University Business School
Professor Ronan Carbery is Professor of Human Resource Management at Cork University Business School, where he also serves as Director of the Executive MBA programme. He has published over 40 refereed journal articles and ten books, and his research spans algorithmic management, platform labour, and chronic illness in the workplace. He co-edits the European Journal of Training and Development and is a recipient of the 2024 Outstanding HRD Scholar Award from the Academy of Human Resource Development.
His De Chastelain project entitled ‘Working While Unwell: Chronic Illness and the Capable Worker Assumption’ investigates the workplace experiences of people living with multiple sclerosis and other chronic conditions in Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador. His own experience of living with MS informs and motivates this research agenda. As a De Chastelain Scholar, Professor Carbery will visit Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada.
"This scholarship will enable me to collaborate with colleagues at Memorial University of Newfoundland and gather evidence from Ireland and Canada on how chronic illness affects working lives. The project will examine how employers manage adjustments to roles, hours, performance expectations and career progression, with the aim of identifying practices that better support people with chronic conditions to remain in work and progress in their careers," said Professor Carbery.
- Dr Rachel Gough, UCC School of Engineering and Architecture and UCC Sustainability Institute
Dr Rachel Gough is a postdoctoral researcher based in the Cleaner Production Promotion Unit (CPPU) group at the Sustainability Institute, where she works on the EPA-funded CLIMATUDE project. She is co-founder of Haunted Futures, a member of the Estudios Irlandeses editorial board and PRO for Women in Research Ireland. She has been awarded the Puttnam Scholarship, the Irish Writer’s Centre Notre Dame Kylemore Residency, the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award, the NUI Grant Scheme for Early Career Academics and mentorship with Patrick Holloway through the Munster Literature Centre.
Dr Gough will also visit Memorial University to work on her project entitled ‘Peatlands, Climate Transition, and Cultural Memory: Building Grounds for Hope in Ireland and Newfoundland.” This project examines peatlands in Ireland and Newfoundland as sites where climate policy, cultural memory, and political tensions intersect. Through a comparative cultural analysis, it explores how environmental protection affects communities shaped by distinct histories of conflict, colonialism, and economic dependence, and considers how climate governance might support more just and peaceful futures.
Dr Gough said: "I am honored to be selected as a De Chastelain scholar. My work takes a comparative approach, exploring Ireland as a post-conflict society negotiating environmental change, and Newfoundland as a settler-colonial context where climate governance intersects with Indigenous rights and ongoing colonial structures. The project asks how climate policy, land governance, and cultural memory interact and whether they can be shaped to support more just and peaceful outcomes."
Dr Kelsey Leonard to visit University College Cork
As part of the 2026 De Chastelain Scholarship Programme, Dr Kelsey Leonard, University of Waterloo, will undertake a research visit to UCC. Dr Kelsey Leonard is a water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, writer, and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Nation.
Dr Leonard, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Waters, Climate and Sustainability, is an Associate Professor whose research explores Indigenous water justice, climate governance and the rights of nature. Her work examines how legal systems can better recognise the rights of water and ecosystems, challenging traditional approaches that treat water primarily as a resource or property.
During her time at UCC, Dr Leonard will investigate water governance in Ireland, with a particular focus on how law and planning can recognise and protect the rights of rivers and lakes.
Congratulating UCC’s De Chastelain scholars, Professor John F. Cryan, Vice President for Research and Innovation at UCC, said: "This programme opens a new route of academic exchange and gives our researchers the opportunity to share learning experiences and build new collaborative research partnerships with colleagues in Canada. I look forward to these scholarships further strengthening research links and academic exchange between Canada and the island of Ireland in the years to come."