Mike holds a B.Sc. (Hons) Physiology and Biochemistry with Nutrition from Southampton University, UK (1990), a PhD in Physiology (specializing in Developmental Biology) from the University of Alberta, Canada (1996), a Postgraduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning from Cardiff University, UK (2007) and a M.Ed. (Hons) in University Teaching and Learning from Trinity College Dublin (TCD, 2015). Mike is also a Fellow of Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy, UK).

After post-doctoral work at the University of Calgary, Canada Mike returned to the UK in 2001. He subsequently worked as a lecturer at Cardiff University in the School of Vision Science before moving to Ireland in 2007. Mike worked as a lecturer/Assistant Professor in the Zoology Dept, School of Natural Sciences at TCD until 2016. Following this, Mike worked as an Academic Developer in Academic Practice at TCD until 2020. He acted as leader of several modules of the Special Purpose Certificate in Academic Practice (SPCert), a professional development qualification in Teaching & Learning for TCD academic staff. Mike also had a major role in international academic staff professional development through TCD’s collaboration with Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology (TIET) in India.

Mike joined the Centre for Transformative Learning at the University of Limerick, Ireland in 2021. He is currently Transformative Pedagogies Lead. He is also Director of the following courses: