Biography
Brian Downes is currently pursuing a PhD in economics from the University of Limerick. His work on the adoption of nature-based solutions by state-owned enterprise is part of the BioFin-EU consortium. He completed the MSc in Economics and Policy Analysis at UL in 2021, with his dissertation entitled ‘Waste to energy under the circular economy: Irish farmers’ willingness to participate in partnership-based’ biogas production’. The focus of this research was to determine what attributes of collective biogas production would entice farmers to join production schemes.Brian was a lecturer in economics at UL for one year and spent two years as a teaching assistant there. Before that, he spent two years working as a research assistant with Dr Darragh Flannery and Dr Dónal Palcic, examining the impact of the disease epidermolysis bullosa on patients, and their families in Ireland, and the state of finances within Irish Universities.
Brian’s undergraduate was in Science in the University of Galway, where he majored in Microbiology and Infectious Disease. His undergraduate dissertation furthered the development of a biological model of radioactivity, using the Actinomycete phylum of bacteria, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. In 2019, he completed the Higher Diploma in Business Studies in the University of Galway, and in 2024 he received a Higher Certificate in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship.
Linkedin: Brian Downes
