Working with IWDG Consulting gives you access to Ireland’s most qualified and experienced team of researchers, surveyors and analysts.
We also partner with leading third level institutions, provide training and experience in cetacean survey techniques and best practice to their research staff and students. Those partnerships mean that, alongside our core team of consultants, we have access to a pool of highly qualified resources on demand, allowing us to scale our team at short notice to accommodate any cetacean monitoring project.
Working closely with you we’ll tailor a team to your specific project requirements, and where relevant will choose team members based on their proximity to the project location, reducing mobilisation time and lowering travel and subsistence costs. With highly qualified surveyors based at strategic locations around the Irish coast we offer an efficient, effective and affordable solution, whatever your cetacean monitoring project.
The core IWDG Consulting team
Clowie Russell is the new IWDG Consulting Manager. She took over this role in 2024. She worked as Marine Mammal Ecologist working on the Alexandra Basin Re-development project on behalf of Dublin Port. She completed a BSc (hons) in Marine Science in NUIG and has been a member of the IWDG since 2012. She has worked in the Shannon Estuary on bottlenose dolphins and in Australia on humpback whales. She is a qualified JNCC Marine Mammal Observer with experience inshore, offshore and land based monitoring for both research and mitigation purposes. Clowie can be contacted on consulting@iwdg.ie
Dr Simon Berrow is current Chief Executive Officer of the IWDG, and brings over 30 years of experience in marine mammal surveying and management to IWDG Consulting. Simon prepares a wide range of risk assessments for IWDG Consulting as well as fieldwork including boat-based and land-based surveys and deployment of static acoustics
Dr Joanne O’Brien is a lecturer at ATU in Galway and has worked with the IWDG since 2004. Joanne was work-package leader on the PReCAST project and ObSERVE Acoustic, responsible for developing acoustic monitoring techniques for cetaceans in Irish Atlantic waters. Joanne has carried out both passive and static acoustic monitoring of cetaceans around the Irish coast since 2004. She has managed a number of IWDG projects such as harbour porpoise SAC surveys and ocean noise monitoring and leads acoustic aspects of IWDG Consulting.
Dave Wall is based in Co. Down and is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. He is an experienced marine mammal surveyor and has conducted numerous ship-based marine mammal surveys on Irish and EU commercial and research vessels and has logged in excess of two thousand hours of survey experience at sea. Dave is experienced in project management, survey team management, data collection, data analysis, report writing and mapping. Dave manages the IWDG ship survey database and surveys and is currently the IWDG Conservation Officer.
Stephanie Levesque gained a masters degree in wild animal biology in London focusing on marine mammal strandings. After working for SeaWatch Foundation in Wales in 2012, where she participated in land and boat based surveys of bottlenose dolphins, harbour porpoises and grey seals she joined the Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation (now IWDG). Here she carried out bottlenose dolphin surveys in the Shannon Estuary and worked as a deck hand and tour guide on a dolphin tour boat. Since 2013 she has been working with the IWDG carrying out land and ship-based MMO work, as well as assisting with observations and PAM during harbour porpoise surveys. She managed the Necropsy Project which the IWDG were contracted by the Marine Institute and is currently IWDG Strandings Officer.
Patrick Lyne is based in West Cork and is a highly experienced marine mammal observer and PAM operator. He has observed cetaceans in numerous locations worldwide, in temperate and tropical waters from New Zealand, to Africa, Ireland and Canada and is experienced with AMS, Mseis, Seiche, Vanishing Point as well as other bespoke PAM systems.
Hannah Keogh graduated from the Institute of Technology Sligo with an honours degree in Environmental Science. Hannah is a JNCC accredited Marine Mammal Observer, and has been involved in cetacean research since 2010 in temperate and tropical waters. She has been involved with the IWDG since 2013 where she has worked as an MMO on various inshore, offshore and land-based research surveys. She also has gained experience in the implementation of mitigation measures during construction and development projects.
Andrew Shine graduated from NUI Galway with a BSc Hons in Marine Science, during which he first became involved in the IWDG, after volunteering in the Shannon Dolphin Centre, Kilrush. He has joined a number of international surveys at sea, focusing on a wide variety of research topics including marine mammals, fisheries, oceanography, geology and deep-sea mapping and exploration. He is interested in research on the effects we have on our environment and marine ecosystem conservation. He is a JNCC accredited MMO and doesn’t leave home without his binoculars. Andrew is currently IWDG Celtic Mist Officer.
Mags Daly graduated from Galway – Mayo Institute with a BSc. in applied freshwater and marine biology. She has specialised in bottlenose dolphin photo-id and currently manages the Shannon Dolphin Project on behalf of the IWDG. She has also spent over two years working as the marine mammal biologist on the small cetacean necropsy project and now works on the deep-diving and rare cetacean investigation project, where she assists the veterinary pathologist with the post mortem and writes the case history reports.
Miguel Blázquez is a biologist who graduated from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He holds an International MSc in Marine Biological Resources (IMBRSea) and is currently a PhD candidate at Atlantic Technological University, Galway. He is a JNCC-accredited Marine Mammal Observer with a strong interest in marine mammal research and extensive experience at sea, working as a researcher in Ireland and Cabo Verde. Miguel has implemented mitigation actions, both land- and boat-based, across various construction and maintenance projects in Ireland. He has also served as an MMO and PAM operator in several offshore research surveys, including IMMErSE and AMIGOS. 
Sorcha Maguire graduated from the Atlantic Technological University with a BSc Hons in Applied Freshwater and Marine Biology. She has been involved with the IWDG since 2020 having volunteered for three field seasons with the Shannon Dolphin Project in Kilrush, where she gained extensive experience in marine mammal surveying. Sorcha is a JNCC accredited MMO with experience in data management and report writing, as well as various inshore and land-based surveys. She has implemented mitigation for a range of development and maintenance projects across Ireland.
Jo Green is the Marine Mammal Ecologist for Dublin Port, currently responsible for implementing the Marine Mammal Mitigation Plan during the Master Plan 2 Project. She is a recent graduate with a BSc Hons in Ecological and Environmental Sciences from the University of Edinburgh. Jo is passionate about marine mammal conservation, writing her thesis on MPA management effectiveness for baleen whales. She gained experience in marine mammal surveying working as an intern for the Shannon Dolphin Project. She is a JNCC certified MMO.
Dr María Pérez Tadeo
María is a postdoctoral researcher at the Atlantic Technological University, Galway focusing on acoustic monitoring of marine mammals and assessing underwater noise levels across European waters. She holds a B.Sc. in Marine Sciences, an M.Sc. in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, and a PhD that examined factors influencing the local abundance and behaviour of grey and harbour seals on Ireland’s west coast, with implications for conservation and management. María has extensive at-sea experience, having conducted visual and acoustic monitoring of marine mammals during several research surveys in Ireland, including the AMIGOS survey, where she acted as Chief Scientist. Since 2018, María has been involved with the IWDG, working as a Marine Mammal Observer (MMO) and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) Operator. She has implemented mitigation measures both offshore and at land-based sites and conducts acoustic data analysis for marine mammal activity and underwater noise levels across multiple projects.
