Valerie CumminsValerie Cummins is the former director of the Coastal and Marine Resources Centre, University College Cork, and recently appointed as the Director of Ireland's Maritime & Energy Research Campus and Commercial Cluster (MERC3). Her research interests cver a range of coastal governance issues including public participation, intuitional aspects of geomatics, capacity building for coastal management, and the science and policy interface and ecosystems frameworks. She is currently reading for a PhD on organizational tools for sustainability science in coastal zone management. She was instrumental in securing funding for the development of the Marine Irish Digital Atlas and has overseen the project since its inception. This activity led to her being a co-founder of the International Coastal Atlas Network. She contributes to the editorial panel of the international Marine Policy journal published by Elsevier and is a member of the Marine Geography Commission of the International Geographic Union. Read More Read Less