Paddy Woodworth (Bray, 1951) is an author, journalist, lecturer and tour guide. He contributes regularly to The Irish Times, where he was formerly arts editor and assistant foreign desk editor, and other media. He has published two acclaimed books on the Basques and Spain, for Yale and Oxford University Presses. Dirty War, Clean Hands, his book on a state terrorism campaign in the Basque Country, was described by the Times Literary Supplement as “a brilliant piece of investigative journalism, that deserves to be read by more than just those interested in Spain”.
In 2013, he published a study of ecological restoration projects worldwide, Our Once and Future Planet: Restoring the World in the Climate Change Century (U of Chicago Press), in which he explores the rapidly growing role of restoration as a global conservation strategy to engage with the climate and biodiversity crises. A BioScience reviewer wrote: “Highly readable. This book will bring the concept and application of ecological restoration to a broader audience and will help inspire a new generation of restoration practitioners and researchers.” In the Dublin Review of Books, John Feehan wrote: “Paddy Woodworth’s [treatment of restoration] is certainly the best…could hardly be more timely.”
Woodworth is a Research Associate at Missouri Botanical Garden, and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at University College Dublin. He is a founder member of the Irish Forum on Natural Capital, and is committed to working for better communication of environmental issues, nationally and to local communities and interest groups.
He has been a visiting fellow at the University of Iowa (International Writing Program), Dartmouth College, the University of Nevada, and DePaul Chicago, and has lectured and organized symposia at numerous Irish and international universities, botanical gardens, conferences and events.
