Our Aquatic Environment: Conservation and Restoration

One-day workshop co-organised by Ulster University, Northern Ireland Science Festival, and the Royal Irish Academy.

This event aims to bring together diverse expertise from across the island of Ireland to critically examine ‘our aquatic environment’ and the measures being taken to protect and restore it. The theme will be explored through a variety of lenses, including policy and governance, scientific diagnosis, social awareness, interdisciplinary approaches, and climate science. The event will be geared towards water scientists, researchers, policy makers, and environmental stakeholders. The workshop will be structured around a keynote talk and two panel sessions, the first looking at threats to the aquatic environment and the second exploring policy and action to mitigate these threats.

The workshop will be followed by a public lecture delivered by the keynote speaker, science journalist, Olive Heffernan. Tickets for the public lecture can be booked directly on the Northern Ireland Science Festival website.

This workshop and public lecture have been programmed and organised by Ulster University, Northern Ireland Science Festival, and the Royal Irish Academy's Climate Change and Environmental Sciences Committee.

Programme

10:30-11:00 Registration
11:00-11:15 Welcome/Opening Remarks, Pilar Fernandez, Ulster University
11:15-11:45 Keynote: ‘Unchartered waters: the role of conservation in a new ocean era,’ Olive Heffernan, Freelance science journalist

11:45-13:00 Panel One: Threats to the Aquatic Environment (Chair: Fiona Regan, Dublin City University)

• 'Adaptation and source protection options for mitigating the risk of disinfection by-product formation in drinking water’ (Valerie McCarthy, Dublin City University)
• ‘Lough Neagh Harmful Algal Blooms’ (Neil Reid, Queen’s University Belfast)
• ‘Monitoring of pollution dynamics in rivers’ (Phil Jordan, Ulster University)

13:00-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:15 Panel Two: Policy and Action (Chair: Pilar Fernandez, Ulster University)

• 'Monitoring programmes for informing Water Quality in Northern Ireland’ (Trudy McMurray, NI Environment Agency, DAERA)
• ‘Risk-based monitoring of drinking water sources’ (Lorraine Gaston, Uisce Éireann)
• ‘The Problem with PFAS-the group of compounds of emerging concern’ (Mark Collins, NI Water)

15:15-15:30 Closing remarks, John Byrne, Ulster University

About the Speakers

Olive Heffernan

Olive Heffernan is an award-winning science journalist and author of The High Seas: Ambition, Power and Greed on the Unclaimed Ocean, first published in 2024. Her work has been published in Nature, WIRED, National Geographic, Scientific American and BBC Wildlife, among other outlets. Now freelance, Olive spent a number of years with Nature covering climate change, including as the first chief editor of Nature Climate Change. She is the recipient of a Giles St Aubyn Award for non-fiction from the UK Royal Society of Literature. Before her career in journalism, Olive was a fisheries scientist. She lives by the sea in Ireland.

Valerie McCarthy

Valerie McCarthy is a Freshwater Ecologist and Assistant Professor in Ecology and Biodiversity in the School of History and Geography in Dublin City University. Her research interests encompass biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology in freshwater systems, investigating the linkages between aquatic systems and their catchments. Current projects include the EU intoDBP project which is developing modelling frameworks for the short- and long-term simulations of dissolved organic carbon with the aim of better managing and predicting the risk of disinfection by-product formation in drinking water.

Neil Reid

Dr Neil Reid is Reader in Conservation Biology, Queen’s University Belfast and lead author of the only peer-reviewed study characterising Lough Neagh’s Harmful Algal Blooms since their (re)emergence (Nature 2023; Environment International 2024). His work integrates satellite remote sensing, nutrient profiling, bacterial molecular sequencing and cyanotoxin analysis. He is currently working on Lough Neagh projects: (i) satellite-based assessment of bloom dynamics; (ii) ecological sampling of food-web disruption; (iii) development of a Microcystis bacteriophage biocontrol; and (iv) evaluation of sand-extraction impacts on sediment remobilisation.

Phil Jordan

Phil Jordan is a Professor in the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences at Ulster University. He researches how water moves through landscapes and how it carries nutrients, pollutants, and sediment. His work helps to improve water quality and guide farming and environmental policy. He uses advanced, high-frequency monitoring in rivers to track how pollution changes over time. Working closely with farmers, agencies, and policymakers, he focuses on reducing farm-related pollution and understanding how carbon moves through peatland catchments, which is important for managing climate impacts.

Trudy McMurray

Dr Trudy McMurray is a Principal Scientific Officer for the Water Chemistry Group, Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) responsible for laboratory analytical services and quality management. Trudy has spent her career gaining experience in the analysis of routine pollutant indicators, ultra-trace metals and organic pollutant contaminants in environmental samples with expertise in method development, validation, accreditation to ISO17025, water quality, environmental awareness and assessment. Trudy is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and Royal Society of Biology (RSB) holding both Chartered Chemist and Biologist status.

Lorraine Gaston

Lorraine Gaston is the Catchment Manager at Uisce Éireann, leading the national drinking water source protection strategy since 2019 and delivering key pilot projects. She works closely with stakeholders to advance integrated, long-term protection of water sources. With 20 years’ experience in the water and environmental sector, Lorraine previously worked in consultancy on European water policy, catchment science, and water quality assessments. Her experience includes UK-based initiatives on catchment management and environmental evaluations for water resource and drought plans.

Mark Collins

Mark Collins has worked in the water industry for over 18 years. He is the R&D Manager for Northern Ireland Water where he is focusing on new emerging areas of concern and innovative technologies to support our analytical service provision at NI Water. Mark’s interests are primarily in trace analysis of both organic and inorganic pollutants with a focus on harmful algal blooms and areas of emerging concern. He studies the creation of disinfection by-products, their proliferation, and effects on the wider water network in Northern Ireland to shape treatment processes now and for the future.

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