DSAI Team

Miriam Ryan is Coordinator of the Development Studies Association of Ireland (DSAI), hosted at the University of Limerick, where she is also employed. She supports the association’s activities and engagement with the development studies community in Ireland and internationally. Her role encompasses coordinating DSAI’s wider programme of activities, including conferences, summer and autumn schools, webinars, workshops and other events. She also provides governance and organisational support to the Steering Committee, including meeting coordination, follow-up on decisions and strategic initiatives, as well as support to the Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary. In addition, she supports DSAI’s membership and thematic study groups and liaises with academics, researchers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, higher education institutions (HEIs), international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), Research Ireland, Irish Aid and other stakeholders across the sector.

Miriam holds a First Class Honours degree in Politics and Public Administration from the University of Limerick and a Professional Diploma in Project Management. She undertook doctoral research examining stigmatised experiences of public administration and engagement with public services. Her previous experience includes teaching undergraduate Public Administration at the University of Limerick and coordinating an Irish Aid–funded international research project under the Programme for Strategic Cooperation, involving collaboration with partner universities in Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa.

Her research and community experience includes work with the Limerick City Community Development Project and Galway Traveller Movement, examining social exclusion and community-based approaches. She also established and chaired a residents’ association, leading engagement with local government, public representatives, state agencies, management company members and directors, and the management company’s agent to resolve front boundary issues affecting 98 properties. This involved navigating complex legal and administrative processes and preparing and coordinating the documentation required to facilitate the transition of the front boundaries from collective to individual private ownership, enabling all homeowners to exit the management company.

Miriam’s interests centre on governance and public administration, social inclusion and exclusion, social justice and equity, and the relationships between public institutions, public services and community participation. These interests are informed by her academic background, research experience and practical engagement with communities and public institutions.

Diana holds an MSc in Development Practice from Trinity College Dublin (Distinction) and a BSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of Valencia (First-Class Honours). Her academic and professional interests sit at the intersection of climate justice, gender equality and development practice, focusing on context-specific and community-led approaches, as well as the role of communication in facilitating dialogue, knowledge-sharing and access to research.

She has conducted mixed-methods, field-based research in Kenya with smallholder farming communities, examining water management and climate resilience, with a focus on gendered dimensions of decision-making and resource management. She has also supported socio-environmental impact assessments, climate risk analyses and reporting for public institutions, NGOs, and private-sector projects across Latin America and Europe.