Dr Heather Lally

Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Freshwater Ecology and Biology

+353 (0)91 742484

I graduated with a BSc (Hons) and PhD in Environmental Science from University of Galway (2005 & 2011 respectively) and went on to complete a 2 year postdoctoral research position in University College Dublin (2011-2013) before joining the lecturing staff on the BSc (Hons) in Applied Freshwater and Marine Biology at ATU as an assistant lecturer in freshwater ecology and biology.

My expertise lies in wetland creation and habitat monitoring, water chemical analyses, phytoplankton monitoring, freshwater pollution management, lake management and conservation, and the application of drones to conduct water sampling. Since joining ATU, I have become an established researcher in the MFRC and have participated in and led several research projects.

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Projects

Monitoring and evaluating targeted mitigation approaches to improve water quality

Contact: Dr Heather Lally

Assessing the use of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles to monitor Ireland’s Marine Protected Areas and provide best practice advice

This project, along with its multi-disciplinary team, is looking at assessing the use of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to monitor MPAs and provide best-practice advice on their use. This includes the investigation of UAV flyover methods to monitor fishing activities, evaluating the abundance and distribution of biological features of interest, and quantifying the nature and extend of anthropogenic activities within selected case studies. This work aspires to generate novel approaches to monitoring, complementing the objectives of the National Marine Planning Framework by outlining how human activities interact with each other in MPAs.

Contact: Dr Heather Lally, Dr Ian O’Connor

Using desmid community diversity as an indicator of land use impacts in blanket bog catchments

This NPWS funded research project (2023) is led by ATU Galway City. The aim of this project is to identify differences in desmid (a type of phytoplankton) community composition among dystrophic lakes impacted by different land-uses (grazing, peat cutting, forestry and unimpacted). This information will be used to develop desmid species lists to indicate whether a lake is in a favourable or unfavourable conservation status to help inform the EU Habitats Directive.

Contact: Dr Heather Lally, Dr Emma Gray

Nephin Forest Lakes Project

This research will determine a baseline list of biological communities, comprising aquatic and semi-aquatic plants, invertebrates and vertebrates of dystrophic lakes and pools within Nephin Forest using eDNA.

Contact: Dr Heather Lally

Biodiversity Conservation and Restoration in Nephin Forest

This Marine Institute funded research project led by ATU Galway City aims to gather and assess baseline habitat composition and structure, and bird population data in Nephin Forest within Wild Nephin National Park

Contact: Dr Heather Lally, Dr Conor Graham

Characterising Oligotrophic Lakes

This EPA funded research project (2020-2023) is led by ATU Galway City and aims to gather and assess baseline data on oligotrophic lakes

Contact: Dr Heather Lally

Microplastics in freshwater

This collaborative research project, funded by the EPA, is informing the development and implementation of policy by improving understanding of microplastic (MP) sources, pathways and environmental fate in freshwater systems in Ireland and making recommendations for monitoring of MPs.

Contact: Dr Róisín Nash