MESSAGE has completed its first year as the Marine & Energy Social Sciences & Humanities Interdisciplinary Research Group - and lots has happened in this period! Let’s take a look back at all the events organised by MESSAGE over the course of the 2024/2025 academic year.
In October, MESSAGE co-organised an event in the UCD Earth Institute Democracy & the Environment Series: “Navigating the Community Impacts of Coastal Change”. The event was based at the beautiful Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) on a sunny autumn day. The event featured presentations by MESSAGE members Dr. Shauna Creane, on coastal erosion processes in southeast Ireland, and by Dr. Tomas Buitendijk on the impact of coastal landscape change on local communities. Responses were offered by Dr. Katherine Cronin (Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage) and Mr. Xavier Monteys (Geological Survey Ireland), followed by a Q&A session.
In November, due to its already fast growing network, MESSAGE organised a Speed Dating Event within UCD. The event allowed researchers to meet and chat about their research, possible inter-disciplinary collaborations and get to know each other as colleagues at UCD.
In February, MESSAGE attended the iCRAG@10: Evolving for a Changing World. The event showcased innovative research projects from across the fields of geoscience, engineering, environment, climate, humanities and social research. Founding members of MESSAGE, Dr. Tomas Buitendijk and Dr Geertje Schuitema, as well as Dr. Josie Taylor were all invited to give talks and participate in discussion panels for the occasion.
In March, for World Water Day, MESSAGE member Dr. Ashley Cahillane presented the group’s poster during an event organised by Dooge Centre for Water Resources Research. Cahillane was joined by other researchers from various disciplines and schools to present their work on water related topics.
In April, MESSAGE organised a Research Showcase during one of the UCD Earth Institute Coffee Mornings, which take place every Thursday. The showcase was titled “Marine protected areas, blue carbon and vulnerable cultural landscapes: ongoing coastal, marine and energy research from the UCD MESSAGE Research Group”. MESSAGE members, Dr. George Hoppit, Dr. Saule Akhmetkaliyeva (both UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science) and Samantha Tobias (UCD School of Archaeology), gave a presentation on their respective ongoing research, relating to marine & coastal topics.
Also in April, MESSAGE funded UCD researchers Dr. Verity Burke and Dr. Josh Jewell to travel to Iceland and conduct their research on Siglufjörður’s Herring Era Museum. Burke and Jewell explored the history and impact of Iceland’s shifting industries, from ecological monocultures to tourism. The pair are in the process of writing a publication piece based on this field trip, and have written a blog post on their travels to Iceland which you can find here.
Finally, in May, MESSAGE organised a three-day Coastal Writing Retreat for Early Career Researchers, in Annalong, Northern Ireland. Participants enjoyed a peaceful and productive time to focus on their writing and research. Participants created commitment boards to plan their work during the retreat; and there was a talk by Emer Caslin from iCRAG on Industry and Funding, which included an opportunity to practice elevator pitches. A few even braved the waves and many participants left with revived determination and new inter-disciplinary projects budding.
New MESSAGE projects are in the making ! Keep an eye out and follow us to stay in the loop.