Dr Michael Brennan BA Mod MApplSc PhD
Contact Details
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Biography:
| Dr.
Michael Brennan is a graduate of both Trinity College Dublin and UCD with a
Bachelor's degree in microbiology, a master's in Environmental Science and a
PhD in urban biodiversity. Michael's research interests revolve
around three core themes: (1) urban biodiversity; (2) green infrastructure; and
(3) the use of Geographical Information Systems to identify trends in
environmental data and developing tools and scenarios to forecast change into
the future. Michael's work to date has been on projects that
incorporate these interests such as the Urban Environment Project, which
simulated the evolution of Dublin city into the future and quantified the
environmental impacts of this development, and the DOLMANT project, which identified the activities occurring within lake catchments and developed lake management tools to aid catchment management. Currently, Michael is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
working on the European Social Survey (ESS). The ESS is an academically-driven
social survey designed to chart and explain the interaction between Europe's
changing institutions and the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns of its
diverse populations. Established in 2001, and currently preparing for its sixth
round, the survey covers more than thirty nations and employs the most rigorous
methodologies. The ESS won the ESS the Descartes prize in 2005, awarded by the
European Commission for excellence in scientific research. Michael's post
involves liaising with Central Coordinating Team in City University London,
ensuring academic rigour of the Irish portion of the survey, data analysis of the
results and responsible for organising an international workshop at the conclusion
of the survey. |
Research Interests
| European social surveys Spatial Planning, Institutional Coordination and Governance Michael's PhD research explored the changes in biodiversity, landuse and the connection between the two within the Dublin city-region over the last ten to fifteen years. This research aimed to identify indicators of the city that enhance, retain or inhibit biodiversity across the region as well as quantify the impacts of development during a period of massive economic growth. Urban Environment Project Research work for the Urban Environment Project explores the potential of dynamic spatial interaction models for scenario generation in the context of spatial planning. The specific focus of this large interdisciplinary project is to develop and apply the MOLAND model of landcover change to Dublin city-region (study area = Greater Dublin Area + Louth). See http://www.uep.ie for more information. The Distribution of the Common Lizard, Lacerta vivipara, in Ireland As part of his Master¿s studies, Michael completed a GIS based project that compiled all available distribution data to map the distribution of the Common Lizard across Ireland. Further, this research examined the relationship between lizard occurrence and a variety of habitat, spatial and human factors, which to our knowledge had not been performed previously in Ireland.
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Peer Reviewed Journals
Shahumyan H., White R., Petrov L., Williams B., Convery S., Brennan M. ; (2011) 'Urban Development Scenarios and Probability Mapping for Greater Dublin Region: The MOLAND Model Applications'. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 6782 (1):119-134.  [Details] |
| Brennan, C., Convery, S., Brennan, M ; (2010) 'Biodiversity in Dublin: A Case study Approach'. Journal of Irish Urban Studies, 9 :79-97. [Details] |
| Brennan, M., Shahumyan, H. and Hochstrasser, T.; (2010) 'Simulated future development of the Greater Dublin Area: consequences for protected areas and coastal flooding risk'. Journal of Irish Urban Studies, 9 :31-51. [Details] |
Other Journals
| Brennan, M.; (2009) 'Simulating Urban Encroachment upon Natura2000 sites using the MOLAND model: Supporting Appropriate Assessment' Urban Institute Ireland Working Paper Series 09/08 . [Details] |
| Shahumyan, H., Twumasi, B. O., Convery, S., Foley, R., Vaughan, E., Casey, E., Carty, J., Walsh, C., Brennan, M. ; (2009) 'Data Preparation for the MOLAND Model Application for the Greater Dublin Region' Urban Institute Ireland Working Paper Series, 09/04 . [Details] |
| Brennan, M., Shahumyan, H., Casey, E., Carty, J., Walsh, C., Convery, S., Williams, B. ; (2009) 'Regional Planning Guideline Review: Using MOLAND as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Process' Urban Institute Ireland Working Paper Series 09/07 . [Details] |
| Harutyun Shahumyan, Roger White, Bright Osei Twumasi, Sheila Convery,Brendan Williams, Martin Critchley, John Carty, Cormac Walsh and Michael Brennan ; (2009) 'The MOLAND Model Calibration and Validation for the Greater Dublin Region' Urban Institute Ireland Working Paper Series 09/03 09/03 . [Details] |
| Shahumyan, H., White, R., Twumasi, B., Convery, S., Williams, B., Critchley, M., Carty, J., Walsh, C. & Brennan, M.; (2009) 'The MOLAND Model Calibration and Validation for the Greater Dublin Region' UCD Urban Institute Ireland Working Paper Series . [Details] |
| Shahumyan, H., White, R., Twumasi, B., Convery, S., Williams, B., Critchley, M., Carty, J., Walsh, C. & Brennan, M.; (2009) ''The MOLAND Model Calibration and Validation for the Greater Dublin Region' UCD Urban Institute Ireland Working Paper Series . [Details] | |||||||||
| Brennan, M., McInerney, D. O., Hochstrasser, T. & Hayden, T.; (2009) 'Landuse change in Dublin: perspectives and consequences of urban greenspace change within the city between 1990 & 2006' Urban Institute Ireland Working Paper Series 09/02 09/08 . [Details] | |||||||||
| Brennan, M. & Twumasi, B. O. ; (2008) 'Does MOLAND work as a tool for the assessment and/or as a predictor of the distribution of urban biodiversity in Dublin city?' Urban Institute Ireland Working Paper Series 08/04 WP08/04 . [Details] | |||||||||
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Conference Publications
| Michael Brennan (2012) Changes in Dublin's Green space during the Celtic Tiger years Workshop on green space and the city, Tvärminne Research Station, Finland [Details] |
| Webster, K., Donohue, I., Garcia Molinos, J., Wynne, C., Tierney, D., Quinn, R., Brennan, M. (2012) Integrating ecohydrology and landscape perspectives into multisystem management of Irish lakes under the Water Framework Directive 32nd International Symposium of the North American Lake Management Society Madison, Wisconsin, [Details] |
| SHAHUMYAN, H., WHITE, R., PETROV, L., WILLIAMS, B., CONVERY, S., BRENNAN, M. ; (2011) Urban Development Scenarios and Probability Mapping for Greater Dublin Region: The MOLAND Model Applications Sixth International Workshop on Geographical Analysis, Urban Modeling, Spatial Statistics GEOG-AN-MOD-11 Santander, Spain.2011 [Details] |
| Petrov L., Shahumyan H., Williams B., Convery S. ; (2011) Scenarios and Indicators Supporting Urban Regional Planning . In: Yasushi Asami eds. Spatial Thinking and Geographic Information Sciences Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 21, , pp.243-252 [Details] |
| Brennan, M., McInerney, D.O., Hochstrasser, T. and Hayden, T. ; (2009) Where have all the parks gone? Changes in Dublin's green space between 1990 & 2006 UPE 8 International Symposium of the International Urban Planning and Environment Association [Details] |
| Michael Brennan; (2009) Encroachment upon protected areas within the Greater Dublin Area under two simulated futures U21 Graduate Research Conference [Details] | |||||||||
| Brennan, M., Carty, J., Walsh, C.; (2008) Urban Transport, Development Patterns and Biodiversity Conference of Irish Geographers University of Liverpool, [Details] | |||||||||
| Brennan, M.; (2008) Variations in the Bird Diversity across Dublin City Postgraduate Ecology Forum Trinity College Dublin, [Details] | |||||||||
| Brennan, M.; (2007) The Urban Environment Project: How Land-use change affects Biodiversity in Dublin Postgraduate Ecology Forum University College Dublin, [Details] | |||||||||
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Published Reports
| Shahumyan, H., White R., Twumasi, B.O., Convery, S., Williams, B., Critchley, M., Carty, J., Walsh, C., Brennan, M.; (2009) The MOLAND Model Calibration and Validation for the Greater Dublin Region. University College Dublin, Dublin. [Details] |
| Brennan, M., Shahumyan, H., Walsh, C., Carty, J., Williams, B., Convery, S.; (2009) Regional Planning Guideline Review: Using MOLAND as part of the Strategic Enviornmental Assessment Process. UCD, Dublin. [Details] |
Working Paper
| Shahumyan H., White R., Twumasi B., Convery S., Williams B., Critchley M., Carty J., Walsh C., Brennan M.; (2009) The MOLAND Model Calibration and Validation for the Greater. UCD Urban Institute Ireland Working Paper Series: Working Paper [Details] |
Conference Contributions
| Brennan, M., Hayden, T., Hochstrasser, T. ; (2007) The urban environment project: how land-use change affects biodiversity in Dublin. [Poster Presentation], Postgraduate Ecology Symposium, University College Dublin, Dublin , 12-MAR-07 - 13-MAR-07. |
| Brennan, M., Hayden, T. and Hochstrasser, T. ; (2008) Variations in bird diversity across Dublin city. [Oral Presentation], Postgraduate Ecology Symposium, Trinity College Dublin , 10-MAR-08 - 12-MAR-08. |
| Brennan, M., Carty, J., Walsh, C.; (2008) Presentation of Urban Environment Project Research. [Refereed Abstracts], Conference of Irish Geographers, Liverpool , 09-MAY-08 - 11-MAY-08. |
| Brennan, M., Shahumyan, H., Hochstrasser, T. ; (2009) Simulated future development of the Greater Dublin Area: consequences for protected areas and coastal flooding risk. [National Refereed Conference Paper], Dublin 2026 The Future Urban Environment, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland , 13-NOV-09 - 13-NOV-09. |
| Brennan, M., Hochstrasser, T. ; (2009) Encroachment upon protected areas within the Greater Dublin Area under two simulated futures. [International Refereed Conference], Graduate Research Conference: Sustainable Cities for the Future, Universities of Melbourne & Queensland (Brisbane), Australia , 29-NOV-09 - 05-DEC-09. |
| Brennan, M., McInerney, D. O., Hochstrasser, T., Hayden, T. ; (2009) Where have all the parks gone? Changes in Dublin's green space between 1990 & 2006. [Oral Presentation], UPE 8 International Symposium of the International Urban Planning and Environment Association, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany , 23-MAR-09 - 26-MAR-09. | |||||||||
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Education
| Year 2011 Institution: UCD Qualification: PhD Subject: Application of the MOLAND model as an aid for biodiversity and greenspace planning in the Greater Dublin Region |
| Year 2008 Institution: TCD Qualification: MA Subject: Arts |
| Year 2005 Institution: UCD Qualification: MApplSc Subject: Environmental Science |
| Year 2002 Institution: TCD Qualification: BA(Mod) Subject: Microbiology |
Languages
| French: |
| Gaeilge: |
| Japanese: |
Consultancy
| Client: Open Architects |
| Client: Delap and Waller EcoCo |
Internal Collaborators
External Collaborators
| Continuing collaboration with the Freshwater Ecology Research Group, Zoology Department Trinity College Dublin (
http://www.tcd.ie/Zoology/research/research/donohue/people.php). Working with this group to develop models of lake water balance and quantify the ecological effects of long term changes in water levels. Invited Speaker as Urban Green Space Specialist at the Parks Professional Network's Seminar Day, 25th June 2010 Invited Speaker as Urban Biodiversity Specialist at the Irish Planning Institute's Continuous Professional Development Seminar: The Green City Guidelines: Advice for the Protection and Enhancement of Biodiversity in Medium to High Density Residential Developments, 23rd March 2010 Led the UEP's contribution to the Dublin & Mid-East Regional Authorities (D&MERA) SEA process in D&MERA's recent Review of the Regional Planning Guidelines. Using the MOLAND model the UEP team evaluated four scenarios describing four possible future development patterns (www.rpg.ie). Assisted Natura Environmental Consultants in Appropriate Assessment of Dublin & Mid-East Region. Using the MOLAND model the development pressure on the Special Protected Areas and Special Areas of Conservation was evaluated for four scenarios of future development (www.rpg.ie). Collaborated with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Fingal County Council on the production of the Green City Guidelines (http://www.uep.ie/news/greencity.htm) (ISBN: 1905254334) |
Teaching Philosophy
| Guest lecturering to 3rd year Geography, Planning & Environmental Policy students (UCD). Module title: Environmental Management. Lectures given: Irish Habitats & Ecosystems, Introduction to Green Infrastructure, Agricultural Impact on the Irish Landscape, Traditional Landscape Management Practices. 2011. Guest lecturing/full-time tutoring for Masters in Regional and Urban Planning students (UCD). Module title: Geographical Information Systems. Lectures given: Map Design, Visualisation. 2010. Guest lecturing for 1st year Geography, Planning & Environmental Policy students (UCD). Module title: Environmental Information and Data Analysis. Lectures given: Interpretation of Imagery & Digitisation; Qualitative analysis methods. Coordinator of the Evening Degree, School of Geography (UCD). Responsible for resolving student issues, acting as a bridge between students and staff and collating grades. Lecturing to the Geography Evening Degree students (UCD). Module title: Preparing for Research. The module introduced students to the elements of a dissertation, and provided guidance relating to the process of writing it. Module was student-centred and interactive. Demonstrating to 1st and 2nd year Biology & Environmental Science students (UCD) Demonstrated cell biology, genetics, botany, zoology, animal behaviour, microscopy, microbiology and physiology. 2006-2009. Environmental Instructor, Kippure House Estate, Manor Kilbride, Co. Wicklow. 2005 - 2006. Language Instructor, Nova Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.2003 |