The 'ESAI Postgraduate Researcher of the Year Award' for ESAI members started in 2013 and welcomes applications from students doing either a PhD or a Masters degree by research in an environmental topic.
ESAI Postgraduate Researcher of the Year 2023 was launched at Environ 2023 on April 4th 2023. Applications forms are available here. Completed application forms accompanied by a CV should be emailed to administrator@esaiweb.org by October 31st 2023.
ESAI are delighted to annouce Larissa Macedo Cruz de Oliveira from University College Cork (UCC) is the winner of the prestigious ESAI Postgraduate Researcher of the Year Award 2022. Larissa’s research focused on advancing seabed mapping techniques for deep-water habitat classification in submarine canyons and cold-water coral habitats (ASMAT). Cold-water coral (CWC) reefs are complex structural habitats that represent one of the most important deep marine ecosystems. This research explored computer vision techniques to further understand CWC habitats in marine protected areas. This research was supervised by Prof. Andy Wheeler and Dr. Aaron Lim, UCC.
This year the ESAI has decided to acknowledge the extremely high standard of competition by acknowledging a second researcher who was of exceptional standard but just missed out on the overall prize.
Postgraduate Researcher of the Year 2022 Highly Commended: Elena Zioga is a researcher based in Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Her novel research is focused on characterising pesticide residues in floral resources for bees. Elena’s supervisor is Prof. Jane Stout, TCD and co-supervisor Prof Blanaid White, DCU. The aim of this work was to address key gaps in the current knowledge of pesticide residues in pollen and nectar and assess whether their presence poses a hazard for bees. The ESAI determined that this research was of extremely high scientific merit and worth a special mention.
Congrats to both researchers. The ESAI will be featuring their research on our upcoming newsletter and website in the coming weeks.
The winner will receive the prize of €500 and their certificate will be presented at the opening ceremony of Environ 2023. They will also be invited to give a guest lecture at the subsequent ESAI AGM which takes place at the ENVIRON 2023.
Applications were evaluated under three criteria: Scientific excellence and originality, Impact (economic/environmental/societal) and Dissemination (conferences, outreach, media). Candidates were asked to outline research objectives, background to research, why research is necessary and novel, environmental relevance, methods, results, accomplishments, awards, publications/patents, the potential impact of the research (economic/environmental/societal), and outline the dissemination activities related to the project.
Listen back to previous winner Philip Shine talking about the how applying and winning the award benefited his research
Please note:
Applicants must be registered as a student at an Irish HEI or working in partnership with an Irish research organisation. The applicant must be within six months of graduation or still be a registered student.
2021 Winner: Irene O’Callaghan, UCC whos research thesis focuses on the development of a novel technique to improve the detection and quantification of emerging contaminants within the freshwater environment.
2021 Highly Commended: Katherine Burns, UCD for her research project
looking at the contributions and conservation of Irish Pollinators in Ireland.
2020 Winner: Sean O’Connor, Institute of Technology Sligo
PhD thesis entitled “Meeting Ireland's Sustainability Challenges and Obligations - The role of small-scale waste/energy management as sustainable solutions in the
circular economy.”
2020 Highly Commended: Kate Mahony, University College Cork
PhD thesis entitled “A temporal investigation of Europe-wide drivers of cockle Cerastoderma edule biology, health and population dynamics.”
2020 Highly Commended: Samuel Ross, Trinity College Dublin
PhD thesis entitled “Understanding the consequences of global environmental change for ecological dynamics and resilience.”
2019: Molly-Ann Williams, Dublin City University
PhD thesis entitled “Development of a Novel Biosensor for the Detection of Specific Species using Enviornmental DNA”
2018: Conall Holohan, National University of Ireland, Galway
PhD thesis entitled “The Anaerobic Digestion of Fats: exploring microbial technological solutions”
2017: Philip Shine, Cork Institute of Technology
PhD thesis entitled “Electricity and direct water consumption on Irish dairy farms”
2016: Christopher Finnegan, Institute of Technology Carlow
PhD thesis entitled “Detection and bioremediation of tributyltin in several environmental matrices such as sediments, soils, water and biological samples”
2015: Luke J. Prendergast, University College Dublin
PhD thesis entitled “Monitoring of scour around structures using changes in natural frequency of vibration”
2014: Richard Manton, NUI Galway
PhD thesis entitled “Route Selection and Design of Greenways: Guidance for the Irish National Cycle Network”
Growing from strength to strenght over the years the ESAI run student competition at Environ is a great opportunity for students to gain recognition for their presentation skills...
Read More