About Us

David O’Connell B.Agr.Sc

David graduated with (B.Agr.Sc) at UCD in 1990. Prior to working as a private agricultural consultant, David worked with IAS Laboratory for six years, as an account manager. David's main area of expertise was on-farm advice on nutrient deficiencies and imbalances. David setup O'Connell Agri-Environmental Consultants in 1997 offering integrated agri-environmental advice as a means to evironmental sustainability in agriculture. David is the founder and Managing Director of OCAE Consultants Limited and is responsible for overall company management, direction and business development. David is solely responsible for the provision of consultancy to the bloodstock industry and has been servicing clients in this sector since 1990.

Karen Mahon B.Sc.MSc.(Env. Res. Man.), Dip EIA, AIEMA

Karen is a co-founder of OCAE Consultants Ltd. Karen worked in environmental conservation in Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands, South America for 6 years before returning to Ireland as an independent environmental consultant, specialising in EIA . Karen has worked with the packaging compliance scheme Repak and in the set up of WEEE Ireland, the main compliance scheme for waste electrical and electronic goods. Karen currently manages the environmental compliance area of OCAE Consultants Limited and is the Irish representative of the European Aluminium Association and founder of ALUPRO Ireland, a not for profit organisation aimed at promoting aluminium packaging recycling (http://www.aluproireland.ie/).

Graham Byrne (B.Agr.Sc)(Hons) Dip EIA & SEA

Graham graduated from UCD in 2004 with an honours degree in Agricultural Science and as part of his work with OCAE he successfully completed a postgraduate Diploma in EIA & SEA at UCD in 2006. Graham's main role at OCAE is project manager, he currently manages clients in both the environmental and agricultural sectors and is responsible for project appraisal, management and liaison with relevant licensing bodies. Graham provides technical support and field assistance to farmers who form part of the OCAE landbank system and he also provides technical support for clients in the bloodstock sector. Graham is registered as an approved Environmentalist with the Department of Agriculture and Food and is authorised to sign Agri-Environmental plans under the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme.

Laura Rudden  B.Agr.Sc. (Hons)

Laura graduated from UCD in 2008 with an honours degree in Agricultural Science. Laura has gained extensive relevant experience as a student with CC Agricultural Consultants in Cavan, including eREPS mapping, on-farm advice and regulatory compliance. Laura also worked with Bayer Crop Science in Germany, where her main duties included experiments, report generation and study protocol write ups. Prior to that Laura was part of the team at Teagasc Ballyhaise, where she carried out Farm Waste Management Plans, SFP and eREPS mapping. Laura joined OCAE in 2008 and is currently responsible for the Completion of Nutrient Management Plans, Vulnerability Assessments, REPS Planning, Mapping and Compliance records.   Laura is registered as an approved Environmentalist  and REPS planner with the Department of Agriculture and Food and is authorised to sign Agri-Environmental plans under the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme.

Karen-Lee Ibbotson B.Sc. (Hons), MSc, PGeo

Karen-Lee graduated with a BSc in Geology from UCD in 1998 and with an MSc in Sustainable Management of the Water Environment from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 2000.  She has been employed as a hydrogeological consultant and project manager with a number of the countries leading consultancy firms, providing services to a range of both private and public sector clients.  In recent years Karen-Lee has managed projects including the development of local authority public water supply schemes, risk assessments of water supplies, water monitoring projects associated with golf courses, construction sites and national road infrastructure projects, vulnerability assessment of lands and environmental impact assessments of quarries, landfills and industrial/residential developments.