Graduate Research Programmes

Elaine Haskins is working under the supervision of Dr. Tancredi Caruso as part of a Science Foundation Ireland-funded project which looks at enhancing food security from grasslands under expected climate change scenarios such as increased drought and flooding. She is exploring the effects of drought and flooding on microbial root endophytes in grassland plants using field and glasshouse experiments. After the experiments, she’ll extract DNA from the roots and prepare it for sequencing, amplifying ITS and 16S, to see which microbial taxa are present and construct microbial co-occurrence networks to explore any differences that may exist between perturbation and control.

Xingyu Guo is a first-year PhD student in the GOLD lab under Rory Johnson's supervision in SBES. Xingyu's work mainly focused on developing RNA therapy targeting lung cancer's vulnerability and the lncRNA (long non-coding RNA) is the main research object. Currently, with the cooperation of the members of GOLD Lab, there are several attractive candidate targets have been identified in the previous screening, and now the validation and the phenotypic effects of ASOs targeting these candidates are steadily underway. Xingyu believes the work of the GOLD lab will advance the understanding of lncRNA and provide clues for future treatments for lung cancer.

Ragna Hoogenboom is investigating the effect of warming temperatures on carbon sequestration in salt marshes as part of the BlueC project. Salt marsh habitats are coastal wetlands, regularly inundated by salt water from the tides. It is known that salt marshes are one of the most efficient ecosystems in capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This project aims to answer the question: What will happen to the carbon sequestration potential of these habitats in the face of global warming? This knowledge will contribute to management practices of salt marshes, aiding climate mitigation. The BlueC project is carried out with the support of the Marine Institute and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Links:

(opens in a new window)BlueC    

Niamh is researching how the immensely diverse genus of solitary bees called “Andrena” have changed and adapted along an environmental cline across Europe. Andrena bees have over 1,700 species in a single genus and a diverse array of morphologies and ecological niches. To understand how these bees are diversifying and adapting so well I am looking at their genome. Using full genome sequencing of species from diOerent lineages in this genus, Niamh will compare their genome architectures. She's also using data she's collecting on their phenotypes and lifestyle including environmental data, dietary data and morphological measurements and analysing if repeated patterns of change are occurring. This allows her to see how changes in their genomes are influencing their adaptation to their environment and facilitating their impressive diversification. LinkedIn: @Niamh Kennedy

Brian Rice is investigating the potential to restore populations of the native Irish oyster species Ostrea edulis, to their historical ranges around Ireland. This population is down to less than 5% of their historic numbers throughout Europe in response to overfishing, disease, and destruction of habitat over the last century. This project involves modelling to create site selection tools to determine which water bodies in Ireland could be considered suitable for oyster reintroduction and restoration. Further we are piloting several “oyster gardens” in sites around Dublin bay to track differences in growth, survival, reproduction, and filtration potential as well as how to enhance the success of these reintroduction efforts. This work is being undertaken under the supervision of Dr. Paul Brooks and the (opens in a new window)NOREAN project

Qiqi Zhi is a PhD student in the School of Biology and Environmental Science, working under the supervision of Dr. Zixia Huang. Her research explores a fascinating aspect of genetic fossil known as NUMTs, fragments of mitochondrial DNA that have been inserted into the nuclear genome over evolutionary time. While most foreign DNA insertions are considered harmful, NUMTs might tell us stories of evolution. Because they preserve ancient mitochondrial sequences, they can act as molecular markers, helping scientists trace evolutionary relationships going back millions of years. Qiqi’s project aims to develop a novel pipeline to detect NUMTs from genomes and
compare NUMTs across the tree of life, including animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Qiqi hopes to shed new light on the deep history of life and how
genomes carry the echoes of their ancient past.
X: @qiqi_zhi30899

Isac Brander, under the supervision of Marcin Penk, is investigating ecological resilience of
ecosystems; i.e., their ability to absorb stress, without collapsing its functionality or undergoing
major structural changes. It is an essential function, as resilience promotes ecosystem stability. However, much is still unknown about the drivers and mechanisms of ecological resilience. Isac’s aim is to determine how ecosystem structure influence resilience, specifically through manipulations of the food web and the aquatic-terrestrial connectivity. Two of his experiments will utilize a new freshwater mesocosm system, called ExOPond.

Links
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/isacbrander.bsky.social.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isac-brander-65a612304/