ARMAGH - Key Persons

Aileen McKee

Job Titles:

Executive Officer
Member of the Corporate Team

Anna Taylor

Job Titles:

Education Officer
Member of the Corporate Team

Anne Bittle

Job Titles:

Executive Officer
Member of the Corporate Team

Caitriona Jackman

Job Titles:

Honorary Professor at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies

Professor Caitriona Jackman is an Honorary Professor at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS) where she holds a Science Foundation Ireland President of Ireland Future Research Leaders award and heads a group researching Planetary Magnetospheres. At the heart of her research is Space Plasma Physics in our solar system and beyond, and she uses data from orbiting spacecraft and space telescopes including NASA's Cassini at Saturn and Juno at Jupiter, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Professor Jackman has a BSc in Applied Physics from the University of Limerick (2003) and a PhD in Planetary Physics from the University of Leicester (2006). She worked in the UK for 17 years before moving to DIAS in 2019. She has held research positions at Imperial College London and University College London, and as Associate Professorship at the University of Southampton. She has served on the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Solar System Advisory Panel, Royal Astronomical Society Council, and currently sits on the European Space Agency Solar System and Exploration Working Group.

Canon Matthew Hagan

Job Titles:

Member of the Management Committee
Board Member of St.Patrick 's Cathedral

Revd. Canon Matthew Hagan MBE joined the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium Board of Governors and Management Committee in 2023. Canon Hagan is Church of Ireland Rector of Brackaville, Donaghendry and Ballyclog Group of Parishes (Coalisland and Stewartstown) since 2022. Prior to this he was Rector of Tynan, Aghavilly and Middletown Group of Parishes (Co. Armagh) for 12 years. Canon Hagan is Rural Dean of Dungannonn Rural Deanery. Canon Hagan has been a Chaplain at the Southern Area Hospice in Newry for almost 15 years and set up and co-ordinates the Diocese of Armagh Annual Hospice Sunday Appeal which has raised almost £250,000. In King Charles III's first New Year's Honours Awards he was awarded an MBE for Services to Hospice Healthcare and the Community in Northern Ireland. Canon Hagan is a Board member of St.Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh and a Governor and Guardian of the Robinson Library, Armagh. He is a Governor of Howard Primary School, Moygashel and Bush Primary School, Dungannon. Canon Hagan for eight years was a Board member of Stranmillis University, Belfast and a member of the Audit Committee. He was also Chairman and Non Executive Director of Tynan Development Committee Limited.

Carol Corvan

Job Titles:

Member of the Senior Management Team
Head of Corporate Services

Ceara Ryan

Job Titles:

Accountant
Member of the Corporate Team

Ciaran Magee

Job Titles:

Member of the Corporate Team
ICT Manager

Dr Kirstin Lemon

Job Titles:

Member of the Management Committee

Dr Kirstin Lemon is a Senior Geologist at the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI), where she looks after the Information & Infrastructure Team. Dr Lemon sits on the Senior Leadership Team at GSNI where she has experience of developing and implementing good governance, policy engagement, strategic planning, promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, encouraging strong research ethics procedures, and supporting staff well-being. She has expertise in public communication of science, developing geoscience educational resources for both primary and post-primary schools and supporting sustainable tourism development throughout Northern Ireland. Dr Lemon has experience of using geoscience as a tool for sustainable development and works with UNESCO at an international and a national level in the governance and development of UNESCO Global Geoparks worldwide. She has a BSc in Geology from Queen's University Belfast (2000) and a PhD in Geological Sciences from Durham University (2004). She is currently studying for a MSc in Climate Change & Development at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.

Dr Marc Sarzi

Job Titles:

Head of Research
Member of the Senior Management Team

Dympna McNally

Job Titles:

Member of the Corporate Team
Receptionist

Eugene Rooney

Job Titles:

Member of the Management Committee

Eugene Rooney is a former Senior Civil Servant who has held a variety of senior positions in a number of Government Departments. He has extensive experience of governance and financial and performance management working with Departmental arm's length bodies in economic development, health and education. His most recent roles were in the Department for the Economy with responsibilities for economic strategy, skills, further education, apprenticeships, youth training, and tourism. He has also worked previously in the Departments of Health, Education and Finance, and in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

Greg Cox

Job Titles:

Member of the Management Committee
Solicitor

Mr Cox is a solicitor and the Chief Executive of a law firm based across England and Wales. He has extensive experience of financial management, governance experience, capital raising and restructuring in a highly regulated sector. He brings added value to AOP with his distinctive combination of legal expertise and commercial management skills. Outside of his professional life, he has a lifelong interest in space exploration. Mr Cox does not hold any other public appointments and has not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.

Heather Alexander

Job Titles:

Member of the Corporate Team
Senior Education Officer ( Creative & Tourism )

Helen McLoughlin

Job Titles:

Member of the Corporate Team
Operations Manager

John Briggs

Job Titles:

Member of the Management Committee

Kerem Cubuk

Job Titles:

Education Assistant
Member of the Corporate Team

Leonard Knox

Job Titles:

Member of the Senior Management Team
Head of Finance and Income Generation

Lisa O'Neill

Job Titles:

Member of the Corporate Team
Corporate Policy & HR Officer

Louise Harra

Job Titles:

Member of the Management Committee

Louise Harra was born in Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. She was educated at Banbridge Academy and attended university at QUB to do a degree in Applied Maths and Physics and then a PhD in Physics. Her early interest in science was motivated through a visit to Armagh Planetarium. She was a professor of solar physics at University College, London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory until 2019, with much of her career being involved in space instruments. She was principal investigator (PI) of the EUV Imaging Spectrometer instrument on the Hinode spacecraft from 2006-2019. She is co-PI of the Solar Orbiter EUV Imager. In 2019 she moved to take on the position of director at Physikalisch-Meteorologische Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) in Davos, Switzerland, and affiliated professor at ETH-Zurich. Harra's research interests include solar flares and coronal mass ejections, formation of the solar wind and Sun-Earth connection. Her research makes use of spectroscopic and imaging observations to quantify the characteristics and behaviour of solar flares and the solar wind.

Lovisa Redpath

Job Titles:

Education Assistant
Member of the Corporate Team

Lynne Brown

Job Titles:

Corporate Manager
Member of the Corporate Team

Mark Grimley

Job Titles:

Education Assistant
Member of the Corporate Team

Martina Glass

Job Titles:

Member of the Corporate Team
Operations Manager

Matt Darnley

Job Titles:

Professor

Professor Matt Darnley is a Reader in Time Domain Astrophysics and Head of Teaching at the Astrophysics Research Institute of Liverpool John Moores University. He has expertise in the delivery, management, revalidation, accreditation, admissions, and quality assurance of multiple programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level, including distance learning and collaborative awards. He is the principle investigator for a large international collaboration of around one hundred astronomers, both amateur and professional, a member of the policy advisory group for the Royal Astronomical Society, and the co-secretary for the Merseyside Branch of the Institute of Physics. He is an advocate for all aspects of scientific outreach and has a strong interest in Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity matters, being the lead for his department's AthenaSWAN submission and has on AthenaSWAN assessment panels. His research interests focus on thermonuclear novae and exploring their link to type Ia supernovae and he is an experienced user of multiwavelength observing facilities both on-ground and in space.

Matthew McMahon

Job Titles:

Member of the Corporate Team
Museum Collections Officer

Nick Parke

Job Titles:

Education Officer
Member of the Corporate Team

Paul Kennedy

Job Titles:

Member of the Management Committee

Paul Kennedy is a Civil Servant in the Department of Infrastructure, through which he has gained experience relating to complex financial transactions and sponsorship responsibilities for Arm's-Length Bodies. He is a Chartered Accountant and has prior private sector experience, including building his own successful accountancy practice which covered areas such as corporate governance, internal audit and risk management. He is a former Chair of the Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants Ireland. Paul is a non-executive director of Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue (NIFRS) which is a non-departmental public body, with the Department of Health (DoH) as its sponsoring Department.

Roger Wilson

Job Titles:

Member of the Management Committee
First Chief Executive of Armagh City

Roger Wilson was appointed as the first Chief Executive of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council on 1 April 2014. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of Coleraine Borough Council from October 2008, before which he was a Strategic Director with Armagh City and District Council. He has also worked in the private sector. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a Chartered Company Secretary, a Chartered Company Director, obtained his MBA from the University of Ulster and is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute, Charlottesville, Virginia. He is Co-Chair of All Island Local Authority Forum, the Deputy Chair of the Ulster Orchestra, Vice Chair of SOLACE NI, a board member of Armagh Observatory and Planetarium and Southern Area Hospice Services. He has led and been involved in a number of strategic events and projects that have contributed to the economic, social and physical regeneration of local areas including the recent opening of the £40m South Lake Leisure Centre in Craigavon which includes Irelands largest gym.