The EcoEvo Blog is written by members of the Botany and Zoology Departments of the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin. Below are the current contributors to the blog, including PhD students, professors, and more.
Clicking on a photo will take you to that contributor’s posts, so you can keep up to date with anyone who interests you.
Maude Baudraz is a PhD student in Yvonne Buckley’s research group in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin. She is interested in where plants occur and how well they perform. Her current research focuses on demographic processes and how they link to the position of populations within a species niche. Jenny studies the spatial and foraging ecology of marine predators with a particular focus, and passion, for sharks and their relatives. She is supervised by Dr Andrew Jackson, Dr Nick Payne and Dr Ian Donohue and is based in the Zoology Department at Trinity College Dublin. Yvonne Buckley researches and teaches population biology, conservation, ecology and ecosystem management and is the Chair of Zoology at Trinity College Dublin. She holds an IRC Laureate award, is Chair of the National Biodiversity Forum and a former President of the Irish Ecological Association. Aoife Cahill is a recent Zoology graduate from Trinity College Dublin with a keen interest in conservation, currently interning for Dr Marcus Collier in the Department of Botany, Trinity College Dublin. She will be continuing her studies with the MSc Environmental Resource Management programme in UCD in the 2021/22 academic year. Tallulah is a Research Assistant with a keen interest in intertidal ecology and the sustainable aquaculture of species, aiding in the research of a new project: Beyond biofuel: Advanced seaweed cultivation for marine biodiscovery and climate change mitigation. Dr. Aoibheann Gaughran is a postdoc in Prof. Nicola Marples’ research group in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin. Her research focuses on the movement ecology of the European badger and is funded by and in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Carla J. Harper is Assistant Professor in Environmental Science, Botany Dept. Palaeomycologist, palaeobotanist, mycologist, mushroom maven Hazel Herbst is a recent TCD Zoology graduate with a keen interest in conservation and is currently interning for the Trinity College Dublin Biodiversity Audit. Dr. David Kelly is a postdoctoral researcher in Prof Nicola Marples’ Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology group in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin. His interests include ecology, biogeography, and evolution, and their interrelatedness. Dr Jacinta Kong is a teaching and research fellow in the Department of Zoology at Trinity College Dublin. She is an environmental physiologist studying how animals live in and interact with their world. Nicola Marples is a Professor in Zoology in Trinity College Dublin, who specialises in evolution and animal behaviour. Her research group study topics as diverse as the behaviour of badgers, the evolution of birds on remote islands, and fussy eaters in fish. She teaches TY, undergraduate and postgraduate students in evolutionary topics and animal behaviour. Andrew McManus (@andz011) is a PhD student in Dr. Peter Stuart’s lab in Munster Technological University, working on the bank vole invasion in Ireland. Andrew Mooney is a PhD student in Yvonne Buckley’s research group in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin. His research focuses on the role of zoos and aquariums in global wildlife conservation through the use of global databases. He is also a member of the Species360 Conservation Science Alliance, under the supervision of Prof Dalia Conde. Research Fellow in the Botany Department. His current research focuses on the discovery and commercialisation of a class of plant-associated microorganisms called endophytes. Andrew is a first year PhD student researching sustainability, natural capital and bioeconomy, funded by SFI as part of the BEACON bioeconomy project. He is passionate about sustainable development and interdisciplinary research using environmental sciences. Fionn Ó Marcaigh carried out his PhD in Nicola Marples’ research group in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin. His thesis, submitted in 2022, examined island birds to uncover the factors underlying the evolution of new species, supported by the Irish Research Council. Darren O’Connell is a Postdoc in the Network Ecology Group, Newcastle University, comparing the network ecology of restored and natural mangrove sites. Darren completed his PhD in The Marples Lab in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin, studying bird evolution and island biogeography in Sulawesi, Indonesia. His wider research interests include speciation, conservation biology, biodiversity monitoring and restoration ecology. Floriane O'Keeffe is a PhD student in Dr Pepijn Luijckx's research group in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin. Her research focuses on the effects of warming and parasitism on aquatic invertebrates. James Orr is a PhD student in the Department of Zoology, supervised by Jeremy Piggott. His research is focused on multiple stressor research, freshwater ecosystems, and quantitative ecology. He is also interested in environmental photojournalism. Professor John Parnell is Professor of Systematic Botany, leads the Systematics Research group and is Curator of the TCD herbarium. He’s based in the Department of Botany in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. Sam is a PhD student in the Zoology Department of Trinity College studying animal behaviour. Luke is a PhD student in Professor Carla Harper's group in the Botany Depart. He is currently working on the use of mycorrhizal fungi and their associated plants to recover and recycle nutrient runoff from farms. This project is part of the NuReCycle Program which aims to protect the water quality of our vulnerable waterways here in Ireland. His main research interests are fungi and sustainable agriculture. Sam Ross is a PhD student in Ian Donohue’s research group in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin. His research focuses on the effects of global change on ecological stability. Laura Russo is a postdoctoral research fellow at Trinity funded by a Marie Curie Sklodowska Fellowship. She is studying the impact of agricultural runoff, both fertilizer and herbicide, on communities of plants and their insect pollinators. Dr. Annabel Smith is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow in Zoology, Trinity College Dublin. Her current research focuses on the interaction between changing fire regimes and plant invasion. Erika is a research assistant in the Botany Department at Trinity College, working on endophyte research as part of the e-Seed Start-up. Silvio is a first-year PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Nicholas Payne. He will be focusing on the impact of catch and release on Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, the spatial dynamics and environmental preferences of tunas in the NE Atlantic and the design of new electronic tagging methods for small species. Jane Stout is a Professor in Botany and leads the Plant-Animal Interactions research group. She’s based in the Botany Discipline in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. Sabrina Teo is a Final Year Zoology Student at Trinity College Dublin Paula Tierney is a PhD student in Prof. Celia Holland's Parasitology Research Group in the Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin. Paula works on the parasite ecology of invasive species with a focus on helminths and freshwater fish. In her spare time, she's a scuba diver and a connoisseur of trashy TV. Final year student of Zoology at Trinity College Dublin. A potential scientist, with interests in ecology, evolution and philosophy. Maureen Williams is a postdoctoral researcher in the Wood Lab at the University of Washington. She completed her PhD with Dr. Ian Donohue and Prof. Celia Holland in the Zoology Department of Trinity College Dublin, where she studied the impact of behaviour-manipulating parasites on their ecosystems. Marvin completed his PhD in the Department of Zoology at Trinity College Dublin in 2018. He is now part of the Ecology Group at Universität Konstanz.
Maude Baudraz
Jenny Bortoluzzi
Yvonne BuckleyAoife Cahill
Tallulah Davey
Aoibheann GaughranCarla J. Harper
Hazel Herbst
David KellyJacinta Kong
Nicola Marples
Andrew McManus
Andrew’s work is continuing from Dr. Peter Stuart’s previous work on the invasion system, investigating how pathogen dynamics change with time, and as the bank vole becomes more established.
Andrew Mooney
Brian Murphy
Andrew Neill
Fionn Ó Marcaigh
Darren O'Connell
Floriane O'Keeffe
James OrrJohn ParnellSam PrestonLuke Quill
Sam Ross
Laura Russo
Annabel Smith
Erika SoldiSilvio Solleliet
Jane Stout
Sabrina Teo
Paula Tierney
Isabel Walsh
Cian White
Maureen Williams
Qiang (Marvin) Yang
