AWARDS AND PRIZES IN 2019/2020
EDA SAGARRA MEDAL OF EXCELLENCE FROM THE IRISH RESEARCH COUNCIL
SCIENCE FOUNDATION IRELAND EARLY CAREER RESEARCHER AWARD 2020
SHIRLEY HOWE
DR LORNA LOPEZ
Shirley Howe, Maynooth University PhD student, Department of Geography
Maynooth University PhD student Shirley Howe won the Eda Sagarra Medal of Excellence at the annual Irish Research Council Researcher of the Year awards. Shirley received the award for being the top‑ranking Postgraduate Scholar in the domain of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences under the Irish Research Council’s 2019 Government of Ireland funding programmes. Shirley received the medal for her project Of land and ocean: culture and climate on Ireland’s Islands. Proposing a cross-disciplinary approach that draws on geography and anthropology, the research considers if and how cultural processes influence climate change perspectives and responses today. Fieldwork for the research will be undertaken on Inishbofin Island off County Galway and Valentia Island off the southwest coast at County Kerry to reveal models of the human-environment relationship and how they intertwine with current climate conversations. Shirley was also declared the regional winner of the Global Undergraduate Awards in the Social Sciences: Anthropology and Cultural Studies category for her essay titled, Inishbofin Island: A Changing Environment, A Changing Community. Shirley is jointly supervised by Professor Conor Murphy (ICARUS Climate Research Centre and Department of Geography, Maynooth University) and Dr Chandana Mathur (Department of Anthropology, Maynooth University). The medal awarded to Shirley Howe is named after Professor Eda Sagarra who was the first chairperson of the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences, and integral in the development of the Council.
12 MAYNOOTH UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND INNOVATION REPORT 2021
Dr Lorna Lopez, Associate Professor, Department of Biology and Kathleen Lonsdale Institute for Human Health Research
Dr Lorna Lopez, a Lecturer and Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology and the Kathleen Lonsdale Institute for Human Health Research at Maynooth University, was awarded the SFI Early Career Researcher Award 2020. The Science Foundation Ireland national awards recognise key leaders in the Irish research community. Dr Lopez received the award for her work in leading human health research on discovering the genetic basis of neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr Lopez’s research at Maynooth University uses genomic technologies to focus on understanding the genetic basis of mental illness and other brain and medical-related traits. She is also a recent recipient of a prestigious European Research Council Starting Investigator Award in 2020. The project will focus on disrupted circadian rhythms and its relationship with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in families.
