Caroline has worked in a research and management capacity on a number of EU-funded projects over the past 16 years, including the Four Cities Project (Urban Regeneration, Planning and Community Participation) with Maynooth University; EQUAL at Work (Inclusive Employment and Recruitment Practices in the Irish Labour Market) with the Dublin Employment Pact; SPAN (Strategic Planning and Multi-level Governance) with Maynooth University; and more recently, CroSPlaN (the Cross-Border Spatial Planning Development and Training Network) with ICLRD.  A qualified town planner, her research interests include spatial planning practice and policy, leadership in place-making and place-shaping, regional and local development and regeneration, collaborative and participative decision-making, and inter-territorial and cross-border development.

Caroline holds a Diploma in Environmental Resources Management from Dublin Institute of Technology, an MA in Geography from Maynooth University, an MA in Town and Country Planning from University of the West of England / Open University, and is currently a part-time PhD candidate in Maynooth University.