معرفی
Dr. Orla Kelly is an active Assistant Professor in Social Policy at University College Dublin's School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice. Her work bridges social policy, environmental sustainability, and climate change research, with significant contributions to understanding the social dimensions of ecological crises. She holds positions as an Editorial Board Member for Sociology of Development and is a founding member of the Worktime Reduction Research Network.
Her educational background includes a PhD in environmental sociology from Boston College, an LLM in International Human Rights Law from NUI Galway, an MSc in International Business from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, and a BComm from University College Cork. Prior to her current position, she worked as a Research Associate (2010-2015) and Research Fellow (2015-2020) at Harvard University's FXB Center for Health and Human Rights.
Dr. Kelly's research focuses on sustainable human well-being, eco-social policies, worktime reduction, degrowth, and the social dimensions of climate change. Her work employs quantitative and mixed methodologies to examine the intersection of inequality, environmental sustainability, and social policy. She has developed frameworks for transdisciplinary sustainability education and investigates how reduced worktime impacts environmental and social outcomes. Her research demonstrates how climate change serves as a threat multiplier for violence against children and how educational attainment historically reduced the carbon intensity of well-being.
Analysis of her publication record reveals consistent focus on the interconnections between social inequality and environmental outcomes, with recent work emphasizing practical solutions like the 4-day workweek and sustainability education frameworks. Her research spans climate policy analysis, environmental justice, and sustainable development metrics, often employing cross-national and longitudinal methodologies.
- Runner-up UCD Research Impact Case Study Competition for The 4-day week: making work healthier and more sustainable
- Donald and Hélène White Prize for the Outstanding Dissertation in the Field of Social Sciences
Dr. Kelly has secured significant research funding including the University Climate Change Challenge grant (2021-2022) and the Education in a Warming World research network (2021). She supervises Masters in Public Policy students and welcomes PhD applicants interested in eco-social policies, degrowth, and climate change dimensions. As Principal Investigator of a 4-day workweek research pilot in Ireland and member of an international team studying reduced worktime trials, she leads impactful research with real-world applications. Her work with the Basic Income for the Arts steering group and CAP24 Public Sector Chapter demonstrates her commitment to translating research into policy.
