Shawn Allard
I graduated with a BSc (Hon) in marine, wildlife, and conservation biology from St. George’s University in Grenada, West Indies. My undergraduate thesis focused on the invasive seagrass species Halophila stipulacea, investigating its coverage and frequency within local seagrass communities. Now, I am pursuing my MSc in applied marine conservation through the Our Shared Ocean project […]
Jack Rigazio
I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Science with Magna Cum Laude honours at the University of Maine in the United States. During my fourth year, I conducted my capstone study comparing the feeding responses of Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) to live, motile algae cells and frozen algal paste in an aquaculture setting. During this […]
Oliver Lynch Milner
I graduated from my BSc degree in Wildlife Biology from the Munster Technological University in 2022. After this, I undertook a MSc by Research at the University of Galway from 2022 until 2024. My MSc research project investigated changes in the plant diversity and species composition of a selection of semi-natural grassland sites between the […]
Aylis Emerit
I graduated from a BSc (Hons) in Applied Freshwater and Marine Biology with first-class honours in 2021 in ATU Galway City, and was awarded the Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland (ESAI) Undergraduate of the Year award 2020/2021 for my 4th year project focusing on spatial distribution modelling. After graduation, I undertook the Marine Institute’s Bursary […]
Mateja Švonja
Learning to dive at the age of four gave me an entry ticket into an entirely new and unfamiliar world brimming with life. Countless days spent playing near the oceanfront kindled my interest and fortified my affinity for the sea. In the following years, I unintentionally acquired skills and experience, working at the Aquarium Piran, […]
Arianna Destefani
My academic journey began with volunteer internships in hospital labs and veterinary practices, igniting my passion for the natural sciences and driving me to pursue a B.Sc. in Biology at Bonn University, Germany. During my undergraduate studies, I developed a profound interest in Marine Biology, further nurtured through specialized courses and an internship at Bonn […]
Oluwasegun Ige
My academic journey started in 2012, with a National Diploma in Science Laboratory Technology from the Polytechnic of Ibadan in Nigeria. I had my bachelor’s degree with first-class honours in Microbiology from the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. My undergraduate thesis was based on risk assessments that are associated with enteric bacteria in selected […]
Rachel Coleman Horgan
I am an Irish Research Council funded PhD student in the MFRC in the Atlantic Technical University (ATU), Galway. I am investigating the skate and ray communities along the West coast of Ireland and bycatch monitoring using species distribution modelling, eDNA surveys and genomic techniques. I completed an MSc in Marine Conservation in the University […]
Nicole Caputo
I am an Italian biologist with a Master’s Degree in Marine Biology at the Università Politecnica delle Marche (Ancona, Italy). During my studies I developed interest on phytoplankton diversity and ecology with a focus on Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and their impacts. After my master I had the opportunity to visit different laboratories and international […]
David Smyth
I am a PhD student at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Galway. My research focuses on the conservation of Lesser Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros), specifically I am looking at how variables in habitat composition, diet and interspecific competition can affect their occurrence and range in Ireland. This research uses a variety of methods including invertebrate recording, […]
