Scott Fitzsimmons, B.P.A.P.M., M.A., (Carleton), Ph.D. (Calgary), specializes in the behaviour of armed forces and the use of force in contemporary conflicts. Before his arrival in Limerick in 2013, he was a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He has also taught at the Universities of Victoria and Calgary.  His primary research interests include developing and testing theories of how armed forces behave in conflict zones, combat operations involving mercenaries and private security companies, public attitudes toward defence spending and the use of force by the Government of Canada, government responses to terrorism, and the sources of combat stress experienced by the operators of remotely piloted combat vehicles.