John Breen obtained his BSc in zoology followed by a PhD in social insect ecology at University College Cork (National University of Ireland). He spent a year studying bumblebees and ants at the Zoological Museum, University of Bergen, Norway, followed by a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at Trinity College Dublin, before taking up a position at the University of Limerick. He is a retired Associate Professor. His main research interests are in the ecology of Irish social insects and, more recently, beekeeping.