Staff Members CV

Visiting Professor

Current Position:

Associate Professor, School of Biology & Environmental Science (SBES), University College Dublin

• 2019 – present: Head of Teaching & Learning, SBES Director Science Graduate School/Vice Principal for Graduate Studies: 2011-2014
• Director Online Masters Taught Programme in Environmental Sustainability: 2014 - 2019 Newman Scholar: 1989-1992
• Director Aquens Ltd. (UCD Campus Company)
• Address for correspondence: School of Biology & Environmental Science, UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4. Email: mary.kelly-quinn@ucd.ie ; Tel: +353 1 7162337/ 0864095704; Fax: (+353 1) 7161152

Teaching

Undergraduate

• 1989-present: 1st - 4 th year level- coordinate/contribute to 7 modules

Postgraduate

• 1992- present: teach modules to taught Master’s programme in Applied Environmental Science (3 modules) in Science and Agriculture (contribution to I module). 2014-present: Deliver modules online for the Master’s programme in Environmental Sustainability

Research Group

• Current Research Group: 4 Ph.D. students (1 additional student will join in September 2020) and 1 post-doctoral fellow
• 30 Ph.D. theses & 5 Research Masters successfully completed
• Have supervised one completed PhD (Dr Minbale Ashale) from Addis Ababa University and currently supervising Melaku Getachew.
• I have hosted 16 post-doctoral research fellows (a number of these in collaboration with the EPA) 75 Taught Masters projects completed to date
• Extern examiner for PhD theses in University of Ulster, York, Coventry, Limerick and the Dundalk Institute of Technology.
• Internal examiner for >20 PhD thesis across Science and Engineering (e.g. constructed wetlands).

 Research Interests & Projects

 My primary research activities focus on the assessment of land use and other anthropogenic activities on the physical, hydrochemical and ecological quality of surface waters with particular reference to multiple stressors and climate change. I have completed studies on the aquatic habitats of peatlands (BOGLAND), agricultural, upland, urban, and forested landscapes (HYDROFOR) as well as canals and constructed wetlands (INTERREG 111). My research is applied, providing knowledge and tools to inform policy and practice. I have led the RIVTYPE project to characterise reference conditions for Irish rivers and develop a typological classification. Some of the other key projects completed include HYDROFOR (forest-water interactions), CROW (condition of riparian zones in plantation forestry), SILTFLUX (quantifying sediment fluxes and impacts) and ESManage (framework for identification and valuation of freshwater ecosystem services). I have been a partner in the PATHWAYS project investigating potential for aquatic impacts from pollutant movement along various pathways and have engaged in projects funded by the National Roads Authority and Teagasc (multiple stressor effects from acute vs chronic pollution). My research group has also maintained a strength in fisheries studies, working in close collaboration with Inland Fisheries Ireland on a variety of species and systems. Further afield I have collaborating with Operation Wallacea on water quality assessment in Honduras and on water quality issues in Ethiopia with the University of Addis Ababa and in Kenya with the University of Pwani. I am currently coordinated three, large-scale, EPA-funded projects with national and international partners; RECONNECT (mapping and assessing barrier impacts on rivers; www.ucd.ie/reconnect), SSNet (managing the small stream network for improved water quality, biodiversity and ecosystem services protection, www.ucd.ie/ssnet) and ESDecide (freshwater ecosystem services decision support; www.ucd.ie.esdecide). Other projects are investigating climate change impacts in collaboration with the University of Otago, New Zealand, examining the source, fate and impacts of ammonia from managed peatlands and collaborating on a project to develop capacity and a framework for natural capital accounting in Ireland (https://www.incaseproject.com/).

Current engagement in international-funded projects

• COST Action CA15206: Payments for ecosystem services (Forests for Water) COST Action CA16208: Knowledge conversion for enhancing management of European riparian ecosystems and services.
• COST Action: CA15219: Developing new genetic tools for bioassessment
• Belmont-BiodivERsA-funded: Land to Sea: integrated modeling of consequences of terrestrial activities and climate change for freshwater and coastal marine biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• European Innovation Partnerships: LLOC2062 – River Allow Catchment Management Group (Farming for Blue Dot Catchments)
• I have set up the Irish ExStream experimental mesocosm facility in collaboration with the University of Otago, now part of a global network of such systems.
• Scientific coordinator of the EU Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) Thematic Annual Programming (TAP) project AQUATAP_ES (http://www.waterjpi.eu/implementation/thematic-activities/water-jpi-tap-action)

Research Funding:

• To date I have received 65 research grants, worth over 10 million euro.

Publications

• Publications to date include:
• 140 peer-reviewed papers
• 12 book chapters
• 3 edited special journal issues (Hydrobiologia & Biology and Environment Proceeding of the Royal Irish Academy) 96 reports
• I have been one of the lead authors on 2 multi-author international review papers - see Pawlowski, et al. 2018; Riley et al. 2018
• Full list available at http://www.ucd.ie/research/people/biologyenvscience/assoc%20professormarykelly-quinn/
• I have co-edited a book on Irish Rivers, bringing together the expertise of over 20 freshwater scientists in Ireland. This book will be distributed in August 2020.

Other activities

• 2013-2017: Chair of the Management Board of the National Biodiversity Data Centre 2011- 2017 and was actively involved in the tendering process (January to November 2012) which has secured Phase 11 (2013- 2017) funding for the Centre.
• 2016- present: Member of the UK Small Water Bodies Expert Group.
• 2018- present: Member of Executive of the UCD Earth Institute and lead on the Water theme activities.
• 2018-present: Lead on the Environment Research theme in the School of Biology & Environmental Science
• 2016- present: member of research proposal/awards assessment panels for: L’Oreal Women L’Oréal-UNESCO UK and Ireland Fellowships for Women in Science, Biodiversa, International Foundation for Science, UK Environment Agency, European Federation of Freshwater Sciences, International Ecology Institute (ECI) Prize for top performers in ecology.
• 2019- present: founding member and chair of the Irish Freshwater Sciences Association.
• 2012-2019: assessor for research student progression in Institute of technology, Athlone.
• 2016-present: member of the Advisory Committee of the Irish Forum for National Capital.
• 2019: keynote presentation at the meeting of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.

 Recent Conference Organization

• 2016: Member scientific committee IWA Regional Conference on Diffuse Pollution and Catchment Management
• 2019: Member of the organizing committee of the SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and ChemistryEurope) meeting May 2020
• 2019/20: Chair organizing committee for the Symposium of European Freshwater Sciences (SEFS), Dublin