Graduate Research Programmes

Oscar Flynn is investigating the realised niche of the invasive charophyte (macroalgae) Nitellopsis obtusa within Irish lakes. N. obtusa forms extensive monoculture beds which have altered habitat and impacted littoral communities elsewhere in its invasive range. This project uses snorkel surveys to characterise submerged vegetation communities along transects from the lake shore to depth, aiming to identify the habitat requirements and impacts of Nitellopsis obtusa in an Irish context. Oscar is completing a research MSc supervised by Dr. Jan-Robert Baars at the UCD Invasive Ecology Lab. The project is funded by the National Parks & Wildlife Service.

Teerna Banerjee is working on the the RAB11 gene family. The RAB11 gene family is often deregulated in cancer, acting as tumour suppressors or tumour drivers depending on the localisation of the tumour. Rab11 proteins predominantly function on endosomal membranes, regulating a number of recycling pathways to the plasma membrane of cells. However, comparatively little is known about their cell biology in a 3D context. Teerna’s project explores the interaction networks of the Rab11 family and investigates its impact on organelle dynamics in a 3D cancer cell model system. Hopefully this will shed new light into the cell biology of this important tumour marker and perhaps provide new therapeutic avenues.

Twitter/X: @teerna_banerjee

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