Meet the Council

Chairperson: Dr. Niamh Power is a Lecturer in Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, in Munster Technological University. After her Civil & Structural Engineering degree, she was awarded the Irish Research Scholarship to pursue her PhD in the area of biogas. Niamh is an active member of the Sustainable Infrastructure Research & Innovation Group at MTU. She is involved in EU funded projects including, ReNu2Cycle, Phos4You and ReNu2Farm and nationally funded projects e.g. InVEST on solar PVs in domestic settings funded through the SEAI. Her research interests include biogas, anaerobic digestion, renewable energy from wastes & crops, transport & CHP, LCA and policies & drivers for change. (Email)

Secretary: Dr Philip Shine is a researcher in the MeSSO research group in Munster Technological University, Cork Institute of Technology, having previously received an honours degree in Sustainable Energy Engineering from CIT. His work focuses on predicting energy and water consumption in the Irish dairy industry, but he has wider research interests in future smart grid technologies and decision support tools/models for reducing the environmental impact of agricultural activities. He is a STEM Ambassador, and co-developed the Dairy Energy Decision Support Tool. (Email)

Honorary Treasurer: Dr. Thomae Kakouli-Duarte is a founding member and Research Leader of EnviroCORE at ITCarlow. Before joining ITC, she received her PhD from the University of Reading and worked at NUIM. Thomae has become an international expert in environmental nematology, leading on the landmark publication "Nematodes as Environmental Indicators”. She’s coordinated a COST Action submission in the area, and steered several Association of Applied Biologists congresses. (Email)

Honorary Editor: Dr. Caroline Wynne is an environmental scientist with a PhD in aquatic ecology. She is a Senior Aquatic consultant with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), having previously works for as a Senior Ecologist for RPS Group Ltd. She has expertise in Water Framework Directive assessment methods for lakes and rivers. Her research interests are applied in nature and have led to international collaborations through a Fulbright Scholar award. She tweets about her freshwater science work. (Email)

Communications Officer: Dr. John Gallagher is Assistant Professor in Energy & Environmental Systems Modelling in the School of Engineering at Trinity College Dublin. His research interests lie in delivering innovative solutions to current environmental and energy challenges, and adopting a circular economy approach in the life cycle of measurement, modelling and mitigation. He's currently Co-I on several European projects, and is actively involved in research dissemination, outreach and doctoral education. (Email)

Postgraduate Representative: Pádraig McDonagh is a PhD researcher at Atlantic Technological University, Donegal. His research focuses on the development of electroanalytical methods to monitor the photocatalytic reforming of biomass into value added chemicals. The project aims to develop low-cost electrochemical sensors capable of rapid in-situ monitoring. At a holistic systems level, such an approach presents an opportunity to develop a technology platform that can be coupled with the existing advantages of photocatalysis as a sustainable method to produce key platform chemicals. Pádraig’s educational background includes a BSc (Hons) in Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry and a MSc (Res) in Chemistry. His research interests include analytical chemistry, photocatalysis and bioenergy. (Email)

Postgraduate Representative: Nicola Watson is a PhD researcher, funded by the UK Department for the Economy, studying the motivations and barriers to cloth nappy use. Her research uses mixed methods to understand the beliefs, attitudes, norms, and controls influencing consumer decisions in the family context. An unusual route to studying Geography and Environmental Science, Nicola’s early academic career was in the Performing Arts with a BA (Hons) in Dance and Theatre from De Montfort University, a PGCE in Drama from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and 10 years teaching experience at secondary level. With young children, Nicola shifted focus to supporting parents to try cloth nappies, by helping to set up, and eventually chairing a nappy library charity. She has won the ESAI social engagement prize twice and has reached the Ulster University final of the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) science communication competition (Email).  

Regular Members

Dr. Dorothy Stewart works with the research team in the Environmental Protection Agency. Roles include managing EPA funded research projects and  knowledge transfer work for greater impact ‘bridging the gap’ between Science and Policy informed by robust and credible evidence.  She has a research background in political science, human geography, sociology, and sustainability with knowledge of Irish and EU governance, planning and development systems and strategies. Dorothy has a PhD sustainable land-use planning where she developed scenarios for the Greater Dublin Area providing plausible transition pathways for more sustainable land-use to address climate change. She previously worked in the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland. Dorothy contributed to the TCD 'Consensus’ research project on sustainable consumption in Ireland in partnership with the EPA. (Email)

Dr. Tom Curran is a lecturer and co-ordinator of the MSc Environmental Technology at University Colleg Dublin and sits in the School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, having previously worked in production and environmental management in the food industry. His research interests includes measurement, abatement and dispersion modelling of odour and gases from agrifood and waste, fat, oil and grease (FOG) waste and sustainable water management. He served as Chair of the ESAI from 2014-16.

Dr. Frances Lucy is Head of Department of Environmental Science at the Institute of Technology, Sligo. She is Director of CERIS, the Centre for Environmental Research Innovation and Sustainability. Her main research interests are aquatic invasive species, fisheries science and human waterborne pathogens. She is involved in a range of international invasive species forums in both Europe and North America. Frances is a Board member of Inland Fisheries Ireland. She served as ESAI Chairperson from 2016-2019.

Dr Denis McCrudden is a lecturer in Analytical Science and Instrumentation at ATU Donegal teaching on bioscience, pharmaceutical and environment related programs. He leads the electroanalytical research group at ATU Letterkenny. The group is involved in collaborative projects with QUB, UL, and Teagasc. His research work concentrates on the development of electroanalytical sensing applications. Research areas include modification of electrode surfaces with metal nanoparticles for use in portable electrochemical sensors and development of screen printed and 3D printed ion selective electrodes.

Liam McCarton is a former chair of the Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland (ESAI) and a Director of Engineers Without Borders Ireland. Liam is a lecturer in the Technological University Dublin and leads the Development Technology in the Community (DTC) Research Group (https://www.dtcresearchgroup.ie/). Liam has co-authored several books around the topics of Resilience, Nature-Based Solutions and the Circular Economy of Water - , “A Technology Portfolio of Nature Based Solutions for Innovations in Water Management” , “The Worth of Water – Designing Climate Resilient Rainwater Harvesting Systems” and “Where There Is No Engineer – Designing for Community Resilience” (Email). 

Administrator & ESAI Conference Liaison: Dr. Sara Meehan supports the governing body of the ESAI and co-ordinates the network. Other ongoing supports include administration, membership, finance, funding, marketing & communications.  She plays a lead role in organising and co-ordinating the ESAI’s annual conference Environ. (Email)