The 33rd Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland
The 33rd Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland
The 33rd Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland, Environ Researchers Colloquium took place from 3 – 5 April 2023. The focus of the conference was ‘Evidence and Plans Towards a Transitions to a Sustainable Future’. Over 200 researchers attended, with a diverse suite of talks and workshops featured over the few days. The conference was kicked off with workshops in sustainability careers, career development and a trip to Glenveagh National Park. The jam packed schedule of presentations was kicked off by plenary speaker Prof Rick Relyea who spoke on ‘Understanding, predicting, and mitigating human impacts for a sustainable future’. There were a large number of focused groups of presentations on topics such sensor technologies, outreach and public engagement, education, policy, marine, climate in balance, wetlands and energy solutions to name a few.
Katie O’Dea of the Plant Climate Lab presented a poster on how the TERRAFORM weathering experiments will contribute to climate sciences, particularly the application of silicate weathering as a negative emissions technology (NET).
Environmental Monitoring Program at Trinity College Botanic Garden
Environmental Monitoring Program at Trinity College Botanic Garden
It’s been a year since Trinity College Botanic Garden laid the foundation of its first long-term (>30 years) environmental monitoring program, as part of its ten-year renovation strategy. The monitoring centres around the assessment of i) key physiological performances and ii) particulate pollution interception in some of the trees held at the garden – selected for their botanical, ecological, and cultural value – to address gaps in climate change and urban green research. The program ranges from using yearly research-level to student-gathered data, and a big part of the past year of work consisted in ensuring best practices in terms of FAIR principles and making online-available data management plans, protocols, and data. Future research developments were also taken into account with the production of vouchered herbarium specimens from the trees, to be used as a historical archive and a pedagogical tool. As the garden is getting closer to its second year of monitoring, a dedicated website section and links to tree trails on the ground are also under development, to couple the monitoring itself with community engagement on plant science and climate change.
