We will host four workshops for delegates in conjunction with Environ this year.
Workshop 1 – Climate Resources and Services for Environmental Researchers
Facilitators: Dr Joseph Lynch (DkIT); Dr Jack McDonnell (DkIT); Dr Padraig Flattery (MET Eireann/NFCS).
Location: Slieve Foy room, First floor, De Chastelain Library. Meet at Main Reception, DkIT main campus at 10.45am.
11-1 am, 27 April 2026.
In this workshop, in partnership with the National Framework for Climate Services, the available climate information sources relevant to field, community and in silico research will be demonstrated along with interactive discussions and activities centred around the potential for added-value to field-based environmental research from available climate information resources and the best practice approaches to managing and interpreting climatic data for novice users.
Workshop 2 – Bioinformatics tools workshop – Phylogenetics Practical workshop and Sequence Processing 
Facilitators: Dr Sergio Moreira (DkIT)
Location: M116/M117. Meet in foyer of Muirhevna Building, DkIT main campus at 9.45am.
10-12pm, Monday 27 April 2026.
Phylogenetics is used in environmental research to understand evolutionary relationships, which informs conservation efforts, community ecology, and the study of how species respond to environmental changes. This practical workshop offers an introduction to phylogenetics, focusing on the essential steps of sequencing and analysis. Participants will learn how to curate raw sequencing data, generate consensus sequences from PCR products and prepare datasets for phylogenetic inference.
This workshop will adopt open-source tools – BioEdit for sequencing editing, MEGA for alignment and evolutionary analysis and Mr. Bayes for Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction. Participants will gain experience in the workflow that bridges sequencing with evolutionary interpretation.
The workshop is designed for beginners and emphasises practical skills: from cleaning and assembling sequences to constructing and interpreting phylogenetic trees. After participating in the workshop, participants will understand how to transform raw sequence data into meaningful evolutionary insights, equipping them with foundational knowledge of phylogenetic methods ready to be applied on their own research.
Workshop 3- DkIT Wind Turbine Tour & History 
Facilitators: Raymond Byrne (DkIT)
Location: meet in foyer of Muirhevna Building, DkIT main campus.
2-4 pm, 27 April 2026.
The 850 kW wind turbine at DkIT has been operating since 2005. It has a tower height of 60 m and a rotor diameter of 52 m. It was the first wind turbine to be installed on a college campus anywhere in the world at this scale. This wind turbine walking tour will detail the history, performance and experiences of the turbine since its installation. Participants will be taken into the base of the wind turbine tower, gaining first-hand experience of a commercial-scale wind turbine in operation.
Requirements: Comfortable footwear and a jacket should be worn.
Workshop 4 – AI and NLP for Environmental Research: Concepts and Practice
Facilitators: Dr Abhishek Kaushik (DkIT).
Location: DkIT Mobile Digihub, located just outside the entrance to the Muirhevna Building, DkIT main campus at 1.45pm.
2.00-5.30pm, Monday 27 April 2026.
This workshop offers a focused introduction to practical AI and natural language processing techniques for environmental research. The first hour covers key concepts such as text mining for climate event detection, public sentiment analysis on environmental issues, and extracting information from scientific text. The second hour is hands-on, allowing participants to work with small datasets to build a simple climate event detector and explore text-based insights. The workshop aims to provide researchers with an accessible starting point for using NLP to turn unstructured environmental text into meaningful information, while also promoting collaboration between AI and environmental research communities.
Requirements: Each participant will need their own laptop and a Gmail account.
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