RI_Newsletter_Issue6_Spring2014

Newsletter Spring 2014 Alumni honour for Prof. Gerard Jennings
Carna Cod Researchers at Carna Research Station, led by Dr. Richard Fitzgerald, are busily prepar‐
ing for this year’s new cohort of cod. Broodstock cod, reared from eggs collected from wild Celtic Sea cod in 2011, are cur‐
rently being conditioned for the next spawn‐
ing season which begins in late February. This year, selected pairs of fish from differ‐
ent families will be mated to give the first cohort of selected offspring and these will be used to further improve culture techniques during the larval phase and, eventually, form the basis of a selected cod strain for Ireland. ‘This is the culmination of extensive work over the past five years’, said Dr. Majbritt Bolton‐Warberg, post‐doctoral researcher on the EIRCOD project. ‘Over this time, we have made a lot of advances in the field of larval finfish rearing here in Carna and this can be applied to a myriad of species’, she added. In aquaculture, improving growth and survival during early life stages is vital for cost effective production. We are fortunate to have the equip‐
ment and competencies in Carna to facilitate this type of research and are looking forward to the next generation of cod. Further Investment in CONSENSUS Research The CONSENSUS research project on sustainable household consumption, funded by STRIVE and administered by the Irish EPA has announced a fur‐
ther two year extension. Recently featured on Eco‐Eye with Duncan Stew‐
art, the project involves researchers from TCD and NUI Galway including Dr Frances Fahy of the Ryan Institute and School of Geography & Archaeology and Dr. Henrike Rau, Head of the Socio‐Economics & Policy PRA of the Ryan Institute and member of the School of Political Science & Sociology. For more information & some great animations visit the project website www.consensus.ie. Congratulations to Prof. Gerard Jennings for being one of five recipients of the most recent round of the prestigious NUI Gal‐
way Alumni Awards. Gerry is an Emeritus Professor from the School of Physics NUI Galway, and was the Director of the Envi‐
ronmental Change Institute (the predecessor to the Ryan Insti‐
tute) from June 2006 to August 2009. Gerry received a Masters degree from NUI Galway and his PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology after which he worked in Dur‐
ham, England, and in New Mexico before returning to Galway to keep the Atmospheric Physics flag fly‐
ing. Over the years, along with actively publishing sci‐
entific articles and becoming one of NUI Galway’s top cited researchers, he built up the Atmospheric Re‐
search Facility Mace Head to being one of the most important stations worldwide for climate and air pollu‐
tion studies. In honour of his research achievements, he was awarded a D.Sc. from the University of Man‐
chester and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Gerry was well loved by all of the ECI staff during his time as Director. His calm and caring temperament, and the ease with which he slips into fits of laughter, are but two of his many wonderful qualities that we enjoyed so much. The alumni awards recognise excellence and achieve‐
ments among the university’s graduates. The awards gala banquet will take place on the 1st of March, 2014 in the Bailey Allen Wing, Aras Mac Leinn. EXPLORE Projects These are just 2 of the great student‐staff projects funded through NUI Galway’s EXPLORE initiative. Check them all out at: http://www.su.nuigalway.ie/index.php/explore‐home I LIKE BEACHES: Dr. Eugene Farrell and Dr. Kevin Lynch from Geography, and five Geography students‐
Jennifer Logan, Jennifer Corbett, Shaun Byrne, Aisling Miller, Michael Murphy‐are working in equal partner‐
ship with students, local government and the community with a view to enhance the awareness and socio‐
economic value of the beaches in Galway. facebook.com/ILIKEBeachesGalway. NUI GALWAY UNDERGRAD SCIENCE FAIR: Dr. Louise Allcock and Dr. Sarah Knight of the Ryan Institute are working with Science student Joanne Duffy to host an Undergraduate Science Fair at NUI Galway. March 19th, The VIEW, all welcome! facebook.com/undergradsciencefair Landmark Event for the TCBB In December 2013, the Technology Centre for Biorefining and Bioenergy (TCBB) held its first research work‐
shop. Titled “Waste Processing: Problem or Platform –Bioenergy & Biorefining Technologies to improve economic performance & envi‐
ronmental sustainability,” the event had a particular focus on showcasing the innovative technological applications available to indus‐
try from the TCBB. Three of TCBB’s industry members made presentations – Mr Alan Phelan of NVP energy, Mr Sean O’Grady of Premier Green Energy and bhsl’s Jack O’Con‐
Mr. Bart Bonsall, Technology TCBB NUI Galway researcher Dr. TCBB NUI Galway researcher Dr. nor. More on the TCBB at www.tcbb.ie. Leader, gives an overview of the Katarzyna Bialek taking queries Anthonia O’Dononvan discuss‐
TCBB’s role at the workshop. about her poster on enhanced solid anaerobic digestion ing her work My Research and Me
In the Community Dr. Andrea Costa Senior Postdoctural Re‐
searcher, Dept of Civil Engi‐
neering & Ryan Institute Ecology vs Economy: Is there a choice? This was the topic of a lec‐
Andrea completed his PhD in 2010 under the supervision of Dr. Marcus Keane. He was then awarded an IRC fellowship co‐
funded by D’Appolonia Spa—an Italian Energy Effi‐
ciency in Buildings multinational—and is currently working as a Senior Post Doc at IRUSE (Informatics Research Unit for Sustainable Engineering www.iruse.ie). Among his duties he is project manager for the NUI Galway team in the EU FP7 CASCADE pro‐
ject, which aims to create facility‐specific measurement
‐based energy action plans for airport energy managers underpinned by systematic Fault Detection Diagnosis (FDD) Methods. This 3‐year project just completed it’s second year with great success, featuring in a TV docu‐
mentary for the Futuris programme. http://
www.euronews.com/2014/01/27/a‐smart‐move‐to‐
energy‐efficient‐airports/. Andrea’s research focus is on the optimisation of build‐
ing operation though a combination of smart metering, building energy modelling and reduced order models, Fault detection of HVAC systems based on customised visualisation and model based benchmarking. Integra‐
tion of automated FDD with advanced monitored data visualisation, ISO based energy action planning accord‐
ing to ISO 50001:2011 (Energy management systems) and the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP). ture given by Tony Juniper on the 25th of September 2013 at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. This was a joint initiative between the Ryan Institute, the Environmental Sciences Associa‐
tion of Ireland and the EPA. Attended L‐R: Dr. Shane Colgan (EPA), Dr. Martina by journalists, government officials, Predergast (RI), Prof. Colin Brown (RI), industry leaders, representatives from Mr. Tony Juniper (speaker), Dr. Paul Bol‐
NGO’s and members of the public. ger (ESAI) & Dara Lynott (EPA). Juniper delivered the message that if we do not protect our ecology our Economy will suffer. An audio recording of the talk is available on our website http://
www.ryaninstitute.ie/education‐outreach/visiting‐speakers/ BEAST! and the Science of Christmas made it’s debut in the Galway Christmas Mar‐
ket in Eyre Square in December. In collabora‐
tion with Baboró, the Ryan Institute, and the School of Physics, this project was co‐
ordinated by the fabulous educators Sandra Riordan and Leanne Szklarzewicz. Activities included "light up Rudolph's nose", "how does Santa get down the chimney?” and lots of chemistry and physics experiments for science die‐hards! THREESIS 2013! Congratulations to the Ryan Institute’s Sara Vero who was one of two runners‐up in NUI Galway’s THREESIS 2013 final in December. Sara, who is working with Mark Healy in Civil Engineering, gave a presentation on her PhD work “Calculating time‐lag of applied nutri‐
ents to groundwater on a site‐specific basis”. Photos and links to three minute highlights video and videos of all of the individual presentations THREESIS 2013 Winners L‐R: (including Sara’s!) is available on facebook.com/ Sara Vero, James Curry, threesisnuigalway.
Joanne Kenny New MSc Coastal & Marine Environments
The Discipline of Geography are running a brand new pro‐
gramme commencing in Sep‐
tember 2014. In this one year full time interdisciplinary pro‐
gramme students will develop professional skills through field based learning with a strong focus on coastal dynamics, physical processes, environmental change, and marine spatial planning. http://www.nuigalway.ie/geography/msc/
indexmsc.html Congratulations to Dr. Aditya Vaishya of C‐CAPS and his wife Megha on the birth of their son, Payod (which means “clouds”!) on the 28th of November. Updates in Brief MEDIA APPEARANCES: Prof Colin O’Dowd of C‐CAPS was featured on ECO eye on RTE 1 on January 21st. Prof. Deniz Tasdemir, from the School of Chemistry and principal researcher in Biodiversity and Bioresources, features in a radio documentary “Ireland’s Oceans” (http://nearfm.ie). Prof. Martin Cormican of the Centre for Health from Environment pro‐
vided his expertise on water quality EcoEye on RTE 1 on January 28th. Dr. Eugene Farrell, Discipline of Geography and member of the Ryan In‐
stitute, was invited to spend 2 weeks in Brazil in October working on a US National Science foundation funded project. The project measured the controls on the behaviour of sand ava‐
lanches on the leeside of giant megabarchans (coastal sand dunes). The lee sides of these dunes migrate primarily by avalanching. Despite the importance of this process, few studies have documented the behaviour and controlling mechanisms of sand dune avalanches in the field. Coming up … The Ryan Institute and the Galway City Museum to unveil the Sea Science Exploration Zone in March. As a permanent resident at the Galway City Museum, the zone will act as a space for the Ryan Institute to share just some of our research and basic principles in a really ENGAGING way, to over 160,000 visitors each year! The zone will be free, suitable for anyone of any age or ability, and fea‐
ture five highly interactive exhibits and a purpose‐built mini‐super‐submarine.

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