John Devaney

John Devaney is a Lecturer in Plant Ecology at the Department of Biology, Maynooth University (since 2020). He holds a BSc in Environmental Science and a PhD in Forest Ecology (University College Cork, 2012). His career includes postdoctoral fellowships with the EPA Ireland (2011–2014), Smithsonian Institution (2015), and Marie Curie/Irish Research Council (2018–2020). He leads the Forest Ecology and Global Change Lab and coordinates IUFRO’s Forest Biodiversity and Resilience working group. His research focuses on global environmental change impacts on plant communities, integrating fieldwork, lab experiments, and modeling.

Key research interests include climate warming effects on tree physiology, biodiversity loss impacts on ecosystem function, and invasive species management. Current projects explore mangrove resilience under CO2 elevation, tree diversity’s role in forest productivity, and salinity effects on wetland forests. He has published widely in journals like Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science and Restoration Ecology.

John has received awards including the CAROLINE Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018) and the EPA Ireland Fellowship (2012). He is affiliated with the Irish Ecological Association, British Ecological Society, and Society of Irish Foresters.

His work bridges ecology, conservation, and policy, with contributions to deforestation monitoring in Ireland and global blue carbon research. The Forest Ecology and Global Change Lab emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to address ecological challenges under climate change.