ISSUE 38 January 2010 €3 including VAT £2 NI and UK
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Geologists and marine scientists are celebrating ten years of surveying Ireland’s vast offshore territory.
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UPFRONT NOTICE BOARD
2 9
Disappearing eels
Christopher Moriarty explains how tagging may show where they go and why they are in decline.
10
Celebrating a decade at sea
Seán Duke reports on the continuing success of Ireland’s ‘big science’ project.
Winning image
38
SFI’s research image of the year
In search of zinc
42
Tom Kennedy reports that new finds are likely to appear.
SUPPLEMENT
Choosing science
43
Outer calm, inner turmoil
Profiles of people who have made a career in science.
15
Tom Kennedy writes that apparent calm can mask serious problems in the newborn.
Careering into space
Marie-Catherine Mousseau talked to a scientists who uses his mathematical talents to keep spacecrafts on track .
Review
Euro winners
23
Marie-Catherine Mousseau met the winners of the European Young Science Awards.
33
Tom Kennedy has been reading all about the Iveragh Peninsula.
Geological Survey of Ireland Suirbhéireacht Gheolaíochia Éireann
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UPFRONT Oops
POLICE on the alert for drugs, swooped on a field of hemp near Lylystad in Holland and set to work with strimmers to clear the crop. Only when the crop was cleared did they make the embarrassing discovery that this was no drug plantation, but a research project being run by the University of Wageningen.
Oil supply
FOR something that is so important, how and where oil forms is still not fully understood. It is usually assumed that it originates exclusively from the fossilised remains of plants and animals in the same way as coal. However, a scientist in Sweden, Vladimir Kutcherov, from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, argues that hydrocarbons can form through other natural processes. The heat and pressures that exist deep within the Earth’s crust could have caused enormous reservoirs of oil to form. Because these processes occur 10 kms or so below the Earth’s surface, these reserves remain to be found and exploited. According to Vladimir, the oil that has been found 10.5 kms below Texas could only have formed this way. “There is no way that fossil oil, with the help of gravity or other forces, would have seeped down to that depth,” he commented. If Vladimir’s contention is correct, vast quantities of oil remain to be found, and instead of being confined to traditional fields, he said, “all kinds of bedrock can serve as reservoirs.” Reporting in Nature Geoscience, Vladimir and his colleagues, state that the revised view on how oil forms could make it a lot easier to find new fields. The scientists believe that fissures can be identified in the Earth’s crust that act as ‘migration channels’ for the oil. According to Vladimir, it may become possible to increase the accuracy of identifying drilling sites from the current 20 per cent level up to 70 per cent. So, not alone would some of the risk be taken out of drilling, but the available supply could increase dramatically.
Winning science snaps
Sean Hassett, from Presentation College, Headford, Galway, took the winning shot in the senior section of the national science photo competition, Science Snaps. Describing his photograph of CD discs as two great inventions in one, Sean was presented with a laptop sponsored by Dell. First prise in the junior category went to Andrew Cole, for his photograph up through an electricity pylon. Andrew, a third year student at Wesley College, Ballinteer, Dublin, was presented with a camcorder sponsored by CPL The Science Snaps competition was organised by Tyndall National Instiute with the support of Discover Science & Engineering, Hewlett Packard, and the INSPIRE nanoresearch consortium. Tyndall’s outreach officer, Aoife O’Donoghue said that over 200 entries had been entered for the competition, based on a theme of how innovation has shaped our everyday lives. A gallery selection of the photographs is at www.pix.ie/go/sciencesnaps.
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Saving on GM
PIGS may grow up in Ireland, but most of the food they eat is imported. Teagasc scientists, Peadar Lawlor and Maria Walsh, have calculated that genetically modified imports cut feeding costs by €2.51 per pig. According to the scientists, writing in TResearch, GM free soya trades at €35 per tonne, while non-GM maize alternatives can cost up to €18 a tonne extra.
SCIENCE SPIN Issue 38 Page 2
SPIN
www.sciencespin.com Soil nematodes, Greg Tylka, Iowa State University.
DNA differences
WORM-like nematodes, most of them tiny, are among the most numerous animals in the soil. Some are troublesome parasites, but distinguishing one type of nematode from another is extremely difficult because, apart from size, they have very few external features. As an international study led by scientists from Wageningen University
in The Netherlands found, differences in DNA can make it much easier to classify these animals. The team focused in on a section of DNA coding for cell ribosomes. With 1,700 building blocks, this section is long enough to show significant differences, and short enough to be analysed
quickly. Using this approach, the scientists have been able to construct a nematode phylogenic tree, defining the relationships between 1,200 different species. According to the scientists, who published their results in the scientific journal Nematology, DNA analysis has been shown to be faster and more accurate than traditional microscopic analysis.
Frozen Earth
WE often think of ice ages lasting a few thousand years, but back in the Ordovician, extremely cold conditions may have lasted for much longer. Geologists at the University of Leicester calculate that the Early Palaeozoic ice age lasted for 30 million years. Dr Alex Page and his colleagues, working with the British Geological Survey, believe that massive burial of organic carbon may have caused a dramatic drop in global temperatures. This carbon is thought to have transformed over time into the oil we find under Arabia and North Africa. According to the geologists, the ice age occurred between the Ordovician and the Silurian periods, a time of major diversification in marine animals. This was also the time when the first land plants began to appear. Before the ice age, there had been a warm period, with elevated levels of carbon dioxide. The ice age which followed, is thought to have been of much longer duration. During the Early Palaeozoic the oceans were often oxygen starved, and this lead to accumulation of plankton derived carbon as sea floor sediments. Overall, it is thought that carbon dioxide was drawn down from the atmosphere, producing quite the opposite to the greenhouse effect. Meltwaters, from relatively warmer episodes, brought in more nutrients, further depleting oxygen at lower depths. The geologists postulate that fresher, less dense, meltwaters acted as a lid, cutting the seafloor off from any oxygen above.
Hobbits
WHEN the remains of small-brained, small-bodied hominoids were discovered on Flores in the Indonesian archipelago, some scientists were inclined to think that these were just humans dwarfed by disease, while others argued that this was a new species. Using statistical analysis on the remains of well-preserved female, researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Centre in New York
have concluded that Homo florensiensis is indeed a distinct species. The remains, studied by Dr William Jungers and Dr Karen Baab, were remarkably complete, with skull, jaw, arms, legs, hands, and feet. According to their report, published in the Royal Statistical Society journal, Significance, the limb and other dimensions were well outside the normal range of human variations, and with a brain similar in size to a chimp, Homo florensiensis was just 106 cm tall..
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UPFRONT Watery Moon
THE Moon is constantly bombarded by particles from the Sun, and observations coming in from the Indian lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan, suggest that water is being formed as a result of protons interacting with oxygen. When protons interact with the oxygen in lunar grains of dust, it is thought that hydroxyl, HO, and water, H2O are formed. The instruments on board Chandrayaan indicate that these molecules occur. Of great interest to the scientists is that not all protons are absorbed. According to Stas Barabash at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, one in five rebound off into space, picking up an electron at the same time to become an atom of hydrogen. Because hydrogen is electrically neutral, it flies off like a beam of light in a straight line. As Stas Barabash explained, the reason why some particles reflect back is not known, but the fact that they do provides scientists with another way to make revealing images of the Moon. Areas emitting a lot of hydrogen will show up. Some of the rocks on the lunar surface are magnetised, and where these occur, incoming protons are deflected into surrounding areas. As a result of this, those areas become hot spots, generating more hydrogen, which in tern can be detected.
Dogs
WHERE did dogs come from? Scientists from Sweden and China have pin-pointed the origins to south of the Yangtze River. According to the scientists, reporting in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, genetic evidence indicates that dogs first appeared about 16,000 years ago, at a time when people were becoming farmers rather than hunters. One of the researchers, Peter Savolainen, from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, several hundred tamed wolves were involved, and these were probably being used as herders or guard dogs.
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UPFRONT
SciFest 2010
AT the launch of SciFest 2010 thirty-three second level students were presented with Intel Excellence in Science medals by Minister Conor Lenihan. Each of the thirty three had been either a group or an individual winner for the best projects displayed during SciFest 2009. SciFest is a national festival of science organised regionally in collaboration with the Institutes of Technology. The aim is to encourage an interest in science through participation in projects. Second level students make their own investigations and present the results at SciFest events. Joe Foley, manager of Intel’s Fab Operations, said that SciFest helps to foster collaborative learning, critical thinking, problem solving, research, and communications. These, he said, are skills that needs to be integrated into education. SciFest has gone from strength to strength since the launch at the Institute of Technology Tallaght in 2006. This year all fourteen institutes hosted SciFest fairs, and there was also a SciFest event in Derry. In total, almost 2,000 students from 162 schools participated in SciFest. To find out more about SciFest visit the website:
Twenty eight of the thirty-three second-level students who were awarded Intel Excellence in Science medals in recognition of their achievement in SciFest 2009. Each of the thirty-three students had been either individual or group winners of the ‘Best Project’ awards at SciFest 2009. SciFest 2009 the main stakeholders - L to R: Norma Welch (CIT), Martin Bradley (LYIT), Sheila Porter (SciFest National Coordinator), Dr Pádraig Ó’Murchú (Intel Ireland Education and Research Manager), Dr Noreen Morris (AIT), Dr Brian Murray (IT Tallaght), Clair Nadkar (CIT), Brendan Cannon (Intel Ireland Corporate Affairs Manager), Dr Eileen Lane (AIT), Peter Brabazon (Director Discover Science and Engineering), and Margaret Mulrooney (IT Sligo).
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UPFRONT In the left mosquito gut image, the black dots are parasites killed by the variant gene. In the right microscopy image, one of the two genes is functional, and a much higher number of parasites, showing up as green, survive.
Defeating malaria
MORE than a million people die every year from malaria, and up to now eradication programmes have concentrated on control of the mosquito population. However, mosquitos do not actually cause malaria, they simply transmit the parasite. To survive, the parasite must live a divided life, part inside a mosquito, and the other part inside a human. Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory at Heidelberg, working with colleagues from the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale in Strasbourg, thought that looking for
resistance in the mosquito, rather than in humans, might give us another chance to defeat the parasite. In a recent issue of Science the researchers announced the discovery that resistance depended on just one mosquito gene. By studying the entire genome of the mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, they found that variation in one gene resulted in resistance to Plasmodium berghei, a parasite that causes malaria in rodents. The evidence suggests that the same variation would give humans protection, and if so, deliberate breeding of selected strains could be a way to control malaria.
Stem cells are
master cells of the body — cells from which all other cells with specialised functions are created. Under the right conditions in the body or a laboratory, stem cells can either become new stem cells or become specialised cells (differentiation) with a more specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, heart muscle or bone. Stem cells are unique — no other cell in the body has the ability to selfrenew or to differentiate. Want to learn more about stem cells? Visit
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UPFRONT Fraud?
WAS Paul Kammerer a fraud? His claim that acquired traits could be inherited made the Austrian zoologist a controversial figure in the 1920s, and when scientists eagerly seized on evidence to suggest that he was a fraud, he committed suicide. Some of Kammerer’s experimental results were obtained by forcing midwife toads, which normally live on land, to remain in water. His contention was that the offspring, who preferred to stay in an aquatic environment, developed black nuptial pads on their forelimbs. The evidence of fraud came from preserved specimens in which the nuptial pads had been stained with India ink. When Kammerer was working in Vienna, the Nazi party was on the rise, and it has been suggested that the staining with ink was in fact an act of sabotage. Kammerer was not popular with the Nazi regime, and his own role in tampering with the specimens was never clear, Kammerer was assumed by all to be guilty of fraud and he died in disgrace. These days, scientists might not be so eager to dismiss Kammerer’s ideas, and in a recent paper, published in the Journal of Experimental Zoology, Dr Alexander Vargas from the University of Chile, argues that the accusation of fraud may not have been completely justified. According to Dr Vargas, naturally occurring specimens of midwife toad with black nuptial pads were found to occur, showing that they do, at least, have the potential to develop them.
Dr Vargas decided to re-examine Kammerer’s original notes, and found that many of the observations actually relate to traits that are due to the way genes are expressed, a field now known as epigenetics. Kammerer in fact made numerous experiments along the same lines and at the time he could have been perplexed by his observations. However, as Dr Vargas points out, his observations may well have put him decades ahead of his time. “Today Kammerer’s scientific legacy is nonexistent and he is often cited as an example of scientific fraud,” said Dr Vargas. “However, the specific similarities of Kammerer’s experiments to epigenetic mechanisms are very unlikely to have been the result of his imagination. These new biological arguments provide a modern context suggesting that Kammerer could be the actual discoverer of epigenetic inheritance.”
Climate change
THE Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government, Prof Cunningham, has appointed a panel of experts. Their role is to provide the government with advice and guidance on scientific matters. At the end of November, one of the members, Prof Ray Bates, produced an update on climate change. Prof Bates, who is Chairman of the RIA Committee on Climate Change gives a clear and concise account on current conditions. The members of the panel and the report on climate change is available from the Chief Scientific Adviser’s web site: www.chiefscientificadviser.ie/panelofexperts
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False leads
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ARE scientists really sure about what they are talking about when they tell us about stem cells? Professor Lander, Director of the Centre for Complex Biological Systems at the University of California, Irvine, argues that while we can define the essential properties, we cannot be so definite when it comes to describe a molecular basis for “stemness”. The properties that we generally use to define stem cells, he adds, potency and self-renewal, are not exclusive enough. Writing in BioMed’s Journal of Biology, Prof Lander makes the point that this is not just a linguistic quibble because it raises an issue that is serious enough to impede research. Instead of looking at individual cells, the behaviour we attribute to stem cells, may be the result of feedback. In other words, we are looking at a system. One of the consequences from regarding stem cells as different, is that they have become a target for chemotherapy. As Prof Lander points out, if our assumptions about stem cells are wrong, this targeting is not going to be effective in stopping whatever feedback mechanism is causing cells to change their behaviour. This is not the first time that scientists have got it wrong, he writes. Not so very long ago, chemists sought to explain combustion as the release of ‘phlogiston’. Although it became clear that no such substance existed, the phlogiston theory did serve a purpose because, by providing a conceptional framework, it enabled chemists to move on through experimentation to the correct conclusion.
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Magnetic rings
CURRENTS continue to flow in metal rings, provided they are small enough. In rings a micron or so in diameter there is no need to apply a voltage, the current just flows. The possibility of this happening was predicted in the early days of quantum physics, but what surprised scientists at Yale working with colleagues from the Freie Universitaet in Berlin, was that this happens when rings are made of ordinary metal, where resistance is relatively high, rather than superconductors. The continuous current is thought to be due to the same rules that cause electrons to circle the atomic nucleus. In this image, pollen from the plant, Mouse-Eared Cress, a shortage of TUDOR-SN has led to break up of DNA, shown in red. Photo: Andrei P Smertenko.
Cell death
PROGRAMMED cell death was already part of life before plants and animals went their separate ways. An international team of researchers, led by Peter Bozhkov at the Swedish Research Council, has found that process in animals and in plants can be traced to a common origin. In both, a protein, known as TUDOR-SN has been conserved throughout evolution. The researchers looked at how the action of enzymes on this protein produces essential regulatory products both in mouse and cress cell lines. The enzymes found in plants and in animals differ, but the scientists believe that the plant form is ancestral to the caspase enzymes that occur in animals. The presence of TUDOR-SN is important, for without it, cells die prematurely.
Storing blood
UPFRONT The small size of the rings makes it difficult to detect the current, but Jack Harris and his team at Yale, come up with a method based on using a tiny nano scale cantilever. The magnetic force generated by the current changed vibrations in this nanolever, and this could be detected and measured. Fifteen years ago, Felix von Oppen, currently working as a researcher at the Freie Universitat in Berlin, made comprehensive theoretic predictions on this behaviour, but until methods of observation could be improved, there was no proof that currents would continue to flow in tiny rings.
TwO specialists in pediatric care have reported that severe trauma patients are twice as likely to die if they receive blood transfusions from stocks that had been held for a month or more. Philip Spinella and Christopher Carroll, both from Connecticut Children’s Medical Centre, published their findings in BioMed after reviewing progress of 202 severely injured patients. These patients had received five or more units of blood, and one of the findings was that if even only one of these units had been stored for 28 or more days, the risk of organ failure or deep thrombosis was doubled.
Toxic tides
wHY do mass extinctions occur? There are lots of suggested causes, and it could be that a combination of factors add up to a the sort of disaster that wipes out most of life. The latest suggestion is that killer algae may have been as lethal as supervolvanoes or asteroid impacts. James Castle and John Rodgers from Clemson University in the US have found evidence matching fossilised algae up with the five greatest extinctions in Earth’s history. Reporting to the Geological Society of America, Castle and Rodgers said that each period of extinction was linked to a spike in the number of fossil algal mats, known as stromatolites. These fossil mats occur
all around the world, and the geologists argue that following a disaster on land, a lot of nutrients are released into groundwater, lakes and the oceans. This in turn could have caused an explosive growth of algae. Many types of algae, like the red tides that poison shell fisheries, release toxins. If the growth of toxic algae increased, as suggested by the fossil peaks, the entire environment could have been poisoned. The theory is not so far fetched as it might at first appear. Dogs often die after drinking from ponds poisoned by cynobacteria, and red tides can wipe out shellfish stocks. If rising temperatures cause toxic algae to invade reservoirs water would become undrinkable.
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Mathematics award
ThomAs Gilroy, from Renmore in Galway, was presented with the Hamilton Prize for his work on mathematics. The Hamilton Prize is awarded annually to the best undergraduate mathematics student as nominated by their university. Thomas, a student at NUI Galway, was presented with the award at a special ceremony at the Royal Irish Academy. NUI Galway student and Hamilton prize recipient Thomas Gilroy, from Renmore, Galway.
Inspiring teachers
AT a ceremony at Dublin Castle five third level teachers were presented with awards in recognition to the success in combining research with teaching. The awards are given by the National Academy for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning, NAIRTL. The teachers are nominated for the awards by higher education institutes and selected by a committe drawn from the Irish University Association, the Institutes of Technology, and the Union of Students. One of the award winning examples staff at DIT Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, after designing and implementing a range
of practical experiments, passed control of these over to the students. Dr Michael Seery, one of the staff involved, remarked that this approach required students to integrate theory
UPFRONT and practice, rather than just follow a standard “recipe”. Another winner, Dr Susan Bergin, was praised for her work in Computer Science. That department now has the highest rate of student retention in the university. All award winners shared an ability to inspire rather than just instruct students. Students of Dr Aisling McCloskey at NUI Galway, said that they had found her enthusiasm “infectious, helping them create the desire to learn, rather than simply pass an exam.” The award winners were: Dr Helena Lenihan, University of Limerick Dr Aisling McCloskey, NUI Galway Dr Amanda Gibney, UCD Dr Claire McDonnell, DIT Dr Christine O’Connor, DIT Dr Sarah Rawe, DIT Dr Michael Seery, DIT Dr Susan Bergin, NUI Maynooth Dr Bettie Higgs, UCC Marian McCarthy, UCC Further details at: LIVEK www.nairtl.ie/awards LIN Dr Aisling McCluskey, NUI Galway being presented with Award for Excellence in Teaching by President Mary McAleese
Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, quizmaster; Matt Moran from PharmaChemical Ireland, Shane Harding, Emmet Sheerin, Matthew Hainbach from St Andrew’s; Hilary Rimbi their teacher, and John Lucey, ISTA.
Schools Quiz
Over 100 Leaving Cert students from 36 schools around the country took part in the National Final of the ISTA Senior Science Quiz. Following a number of regional finals, held during Science Week, the winners went on to compete at the national event held in Trinity College. The top ten finalists were
teams from St Andrew’s, Blackrock; Ennistymon CBS; Wesley College; Blackrock College; Good Council College in New Ross; Marist College, Athlone; St Louis College, Kiltimagh; Mount Anville, Goatstown; St Gerard’s Bray; and Coláiste Chríosti Rí, Cork.. The top prize went to St Andrew’s. The quiz was organised by the Irish science Teachers’s Association and
SCIENCE SPIN Issue 38 Page 8
the winning prize was sponsored by PharmaChemical Ireland. Commenting on the competition, Mary Mullaghy from ISTA said that the willingness of science teachers to participate and make the competition a big success shows that the spirit of volunteerism is alive and well.
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Declining
eels
Elver, newly arrived from Atlantic, and above, Anguilla anguilla, drawing by Robbie N Cada, FishBase.
Where do the eels go and why have they gone? Christopher Moriarty explains how tracking could come up with some answers.
N
early everybody knows that eels breed in the Sargasso Sea. But the people who don’t know are the world’s leading experts on the species. The second of a pair of spectacular new attempts to answer the question is in progress at the moment, as 29 enormous eels, equipped with highly sophisticated tags, are making their way westwards across the Atlantic Ocean. This work, supported by EU funding, has been prompted because stocks of eel have suffered a catastrophic decline, following a long period of abundance in the 1960s and ‘70s. The international project, directed by Dr Kim Aerstrup of the Danish Institute for Freshwater Research, began in 2006. The leading Irish participant is Dr Paddy Gargan of the Central Fisheries Board. His task in 2006 was to find 22 eels and see to the tagging – and that is not as easy as it might seem. A further 29 were tagged in the autumn of 2008 in the current phase of the work. Each tag costs €4,000, looks like a small torch and is about 15 cm long. It contains sensors which measure and
record light, temperature and depth every 15 minutes. Programmed to be released from the eel after a specified time, the tag floats to the surface of the ocean and transmits its store of data to the Argos satellite and from there the information makes its way to Kim Aerstrup’s computer for analysis.
The idea behind the project is threefold. The primary aim is to track the eels to their breeding place. But the tags are programmed to ‘pop-up’ at intervals so that the migration route may also be traced. Thirdly, the data on light, depth and temperature will provide important information on the habits of the eel and its preferences as it makes its journey. The reason why the most knowledgeable eel specialists have reservations about the Sargasso Sea as a breeding place is that no adult European or American eel and no eggs of either species have ever been found there. So the final scientific proof is still lacking, eighty years after the publication of the theory that the Sargasso is where both American and European eels mate and lay their eggs. On the other hand, nobody seriously doubts the theory, because the smallest larval eels have been caught there and nowhere else. The Sargasso Sea is an immense area of the Atlantic Ocean, its western extremity lies between Bermuda and the West Indies and it extends nearly half way across the ocean towards the east. Its waters are warm and deep and contain an abundance of free-floating seaweed. A number of species of marine eel spend their entire lives there, but the larvae of two, the European and the American, are carried by ocean currents towards their respective continents and metamorphose from larval to adult shape in
Eel fishing boats on Lough Neagh.
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Upper ‘yellow eel” the growing phase. Lower, the ‘silver eel’, mature and ready for migration to the Saragasso. Note the greatly enlarged eyes, part of the changes from freshwater to the ocean lifestyle. offshore waters. These small fishes, known as ‘glass eel’ and ‘elver’ migrate inshore. Many of them settle down in the open sea or in lagoons, others move into rivers and lakes. Why and how they should leave the Sargasso to cross the ocean remains one of the many mysteries of the species. One German scientist attempted a statistical calculation and concluded that the chances of catching an eel in that deep, weedy, ocean water were 80,000 to one against. Part of that problem comes from the size of the Sargasso Sea and the known wide distribution of very small eel larvae: they have been found between 23º and 29º north latitude and 48º and 74º west longitude, an area in the order of 150,000 square kilometres. Only a minuscule portion of this great sea can be reached by a deep-water trawl in the course of the research vessel cruises which take place there nearly every year. Sargasso trips cost tens of thousands of euro and no country’s fisheries research institute can afford either the manpower or the money to indulge in many of them. If tagging
The life cycle of the European eel is one of the most remarkable in the world of nature – and still holds an element of mystery. Little eels swim into lagoons and rivers from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Some stay close to the seaside, others penetrate large and small continental rivers. There they feed and grow until some unknown impulse tells them to stop feeding
and satellite tracking could pinpoint a time and a place to trawl, the possibility of catching a breeding eel would be greatly increased. People have been tagging eels in Ireland for forty years and some experiments with pressure-recording tags in the ocean were made here by Fred Tesch and his German team in the 1980s. But the pop-up tags are both immeasurably more sophisticated and very much bigger than anything used before. In the earlier studies, it was easy to buy suitable eels from a number of fisheries. But the big tags need big eels, monsters a metre in
and set off on a migration to spawn. In Ireland, this period of growth extends for anything between 10 and 20 years, with variations from 5 to 50. With a small, but significant, bit of help from his counterpart in Ireland,
SCIENCE SPIN Issue 38 Page 11
length and weighing two kilograms or more. Eels rarely attain such sizes: the majority become mature and migrate to the ocean for their once-in-a-lifetime spawning when they are less than 70 cm long. At the Galway eel weir, it is reckoned that fewer than one in a thousand reach the required 2 kg . So Paddy Gargan and the staff of the Regional Fisheries Boards were faced with a considerable exercise in logistics, sourcing eels from the Corrib in Galway and from the Shannon, the Burrishoole River and Lough Neagh. But they succeeded and, in the autumn of 2006, the target of 22 big eels had been met and the tagging began. The first three were released at the inner end of Galway Bay at the end of October. The remaining nineteen were taken out to sea between Black Head and the Aran Islands and allowed to swim away in deep water, thereby reducing the risk of loss of the tags in the shallows. The fact that breeding eels migrate to sea in autumn has been known to science since the time of Aristotle, 2,500 years ago. A little more recently, research cruises in the 1970s and ‘80s showed that there is a peak of abundance of small larval eels in the Sargasso every February. Eels can swim fast enough to reach the Sargasso Sea in the spring following their autumn departure. And that is why the tags on the eels released in October and November 2006 were programmed to float to the surface at intervals up to April 2007. Fifteen of the 22 tags worked according to plan. The remaining seven disappeared. They might have been snagged or their eels could have been swallowed by large predators. But a great surprise was awaiting the research team. The longest journey made by any of the eels was only 1,500
George Farran, the Danish oceanographer Johannes Schmidt embarked just over 100 years ago on a hunt for the eel’s breeding ground. Nearly twenty years later he established that small larval eels could be found in the Sargasso Sea and nowhere else. His study was one of the great classics of marine biology.
Elver ladder to allow small eels to climb the hydro dam at Ardnacrusha on the Shannon. km, less than half the distance to their destination. Part of the explanation may lie in the discovery that the eels swim to great depths in the daytime and rise to near the surface at night, thereby making their journey very much longer. Whatever the explanation, the results showed that the time before the tags are allowed to pop up would have to be greatly increased to allow the eels to get all the way to their breeding ground. That is the purpose of the second phase of the experiment which began in 2008 and is still in progress. Once again, the eels were collected from various parts of Ireland, kept in holding tanks in Galway and tagged and released from the outer reaches of Galway Bay in October and November. At the same time, eels were also tagged and released in the Bay of Biscay and the Baltic by other national partners in the scheme. The date for the last of these tags to pop up will be April 2010 which, it is hoped, will really give the eels time to reach their homeland and finally solve the problem which has occupied scientific minds since the time of Aristotle. The analysis of the results from the 2006-2007 tagging appeared in the journal Science in September 2009 and have made an important addition to knowledge of the eel and its habits on migration. The current phase of the experiment may very well succeed in pinpointing the ultimate destination of at least some of our eels. And that, in turn, may help with providing the explanation as to why the numbers of eels reaching European rivers is down to about one per cent of its peak in the 1970s. Some years ago, I was a member of a multi-national group which looked at all the quantifiable possibilities we could think of. We considered the impact of water pollution, of the building of dams, of increased fishing and so on. None of these correlated with times of abundance and scarcity. The conclusion was that it must be something happening with ocean currents. Oceanographers pointed out that, as we knew nothing about the route taken by the eels and they didn’t
know enough precise details of ocean currents, they couldn’t help. Since our paper was published in 1994, oceanography has progressed a long way and knowledge of the travels of the eel, thanks to this tagging programme, is increasing dramatically. Perhaps an explanation may be forthcoming sooner rather than later. Meanwhile the International Council for the Exploration of
the Sea has concluded that the eel is a ‘threatened species’. It is recommending the application of the ‘precautionary principle’ and taking steps to ensure that fishing effort is substantially reduced. Thereby, greater numbers of eels may be left to set out on their astounding migration to spawn in peace in those deep, distant, warm waters.
Net set to capture elvers in the Erne estuary.
Irish people have fished for eels for about ten thousand years. In spite of the fact that they have a better flavour than most other fish and command some of the highest prices, they have not been popular in 20th century Ireland and can rarely be found in retail outlets or restaurants. Eel fishing in Lough Neagh provides a livelihood for about 200 men and there are smaller fisheries on the
waters of the Shannon, the Corrib and a few other lakes and rivers. The entire catch is exported. Although eels can be induced to spawn artificially in laboratory conditions, the fishery, together with eel culture, depend on the natural supply of elvers. Concern for the survival of the species throughout Europe has led to a ban on commercial eel fishing in the Republic. Dr Christopher Moriarty is a fishery scientist and author. His books include “A Natural History of Ireland”.
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Ber Alcock
Developing better pollution sensors N itrates, heavy metals and PPCPs (pharmaceutical and personal care products) all have the potential to cause damage to Ireland’s environment. Dr Ber Alcock, in her DERP project, aims to develop three sensors to detect the presence of each of these groups of pollutants, and, thereby, to facilitate remediation efforts where required. Ber has spent her entire scientific career to date in NUI Maynooth. She graduated with a degree in Chemistry in 2002, then went on to do a PhD, working with staff member, Dr Carmel Breslin. Following her doctorate there was post-doc research, working again with Dr Breslin, but also now with Professor John Lowry, Chair of Chemistry. To set up her own research group was one of Ber’s dreams, and when she heard of DERP, this was one of the main attractions, as well as securing long term funding. “I like being able to do my own thing,” said Ber. “I think it (DERP) is brilliant because you have your five years contract, and you have the opportunity to take in post-grads as well, which a lot of the longer term contracts don’t do. With those you tend to have to find external funding for any post-grads that you want to set up a group with. This had it all in one package, which was prefect really.” Ber thought up three projects that she felt would be suitable for DERP funding with one project for herself, and one for each of two post-grads that she planned to take on. The three areas were: nitrate sensing and nitrate remediation; heavy metal sensing and remediation and PPCP sensing and remediation. The common thread between all three was that they were focused on conducting polymers, materials that Ber had done a lot of research on, and which could be used to ‘sense’ all the pollutants in question. She chose nitrates, because it is such a big issue in Ireland, given the large agricultural community here.
The problem stems from the practice of spreading animals wastes – which contain nitrates in high concentrations – on land to improve crops and pastures. Nitrates can cause serious problems when they end up in groundwater or surface water by causing increased growth of algae, and eutrophication of water systems. The drop in oxygen that comes with the presence of nitrates can lead to fish kills. These pollutants can also affect humans. For example, when nitrates in our drinking water are metabolised in the stomach this can lead to the formation of nitrous amines, which are thought to be carcinogenic. Furthermore, in human infants nitrates can be absorbed into haemoglobin causing the ‘blue baby syndrome’ - which can be fatal. Heavy metals, meanwhile, such as lead, zinc and copper can be very damaging in the environment. In
Ireland these are found near old mines, such as the copper mine in Avoca Co Wicklow, and elsewhere in Fermanagh, and Monaghan, for example. The three sensors work by chemically trapping and holding the pollutant, when it’s present, rendering it harmless, or disposing of it in some way. The sensors, when working, and commercially patented should be of great interest to drug companies, cosmetic firms, water analysis companies, and those in the agricultural sector. Ber described what she would hope to achieve at the end of the five years of DERP funding. “Scientifically, I want those three sensors to work. The preliminary results would suggest that they are going to work, but hopefully we will have developed them to a certain stage that we will get a patent out of them – commercialise them.”
Report: Seán Duke
Brian Quinn
Tackling novel pollutants B oth pharmaceutical drugs and endocrine disrupting compounds, or EDCs, have been around a long time, but they are still considered ‘novel pollutants’ as little attention has been paid to try to assess the extent of their potential impacts on the environment. Dr Brian Quinn, GMIT, has received DERP funding to discover the extent of the presence of these compounds in Irish waters, both freshwater and marine, and to develop biomarkers that can indicate the presence of specific harmful compounds.
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Brian believes that while both groups of novel pollutants are not present in high enough concentrations to kill wildlife, or to kill humans for that matter, they could be having a subtle, sub-lethal impact on our wildlife, which could be crucial over time. For his PhD at the DIT and TCD, Brian investigated the impact of EDCs on fish species and found there was a definite impact, with male fish becoming feminised and even producing eggs when exposed to oestrogen-containing compounds.
He followed this up by receiving a fellowship to work at Environment Canada – the Canadian equivalent of the EPA and a recognised world leader in environmental research. In Canada, he worked at the St Laurence Centre of Environment Canada on the banks of the river Laurence in Montreal. There he became interested in all novel pollutants, and their impact on the environment, in particular pharmaceutical drugs. He returned home for personal reasons and worked outside of science for two years – while continuing to publish papers – before the DERP opportunity came up recently. Brian believes that his DERP funding award represents a fantastic opportunity for him to work in his very specialised field in Ireland, and to set up his own research team. “It’s absolutely fantastic. I was absolutely delighted. It will involve myself and two PhD students. I will be looking for the students in the next few months,” he said. His project will be split in two, with a chemical and a biological aspect. Brian will work with a chemistry student to determine what novel
pollutants are present in the water in a range of carefully selected locations. He will work with the biology student to try and develop ‘biomarkers’ that can determine the presence of specific pollutants. In terms of drugs, Brian expects that Ibuprofen and Diclofenac, both analgesics used for pain relief will be present, as well as Carbamazepine, an anti-epileptic drug, and Gemfibrozil, a lipid lowering agent used to prevent heart attacks. His belief that these drugs will be present is based a review of research from around the world, and from talking to a group at DCU, led by John Tobin, that has looked at drugs in our waters.
“The eventual idea is to take some mussels from the environment and say, ah, these are being exposed to certain pharmaceuticals, because they are producing this protein, which normally isn’t produced by normal domestic effluent,” said Brian. Regarding EDCs, Brian said that a lot has been done on the impact of EDCs on fish, but little on invertebrates, which are more numerous, further down the food chain, and, therefore, probably more important in terms of the wider impact on wildlife. The most important EDCs are the nano phenols, which are used in washing up liquids, and estradiol, which is a component of the female contraception pill. But, there are others. With EDCs too, he wants to establish new biomarkers for invertebrate exposure to these compounds, similar to vitellogen, which is an established biomarker for fish exposure to EDCs. “The lab will set up exposures to the mussels of the compounds at different concentrations and use that to try and identify the new biomarkers,” he said.
Report: Seán Duke
Faculty of Science and Health Choose Science at DCU By choosing science at DCU, you can make a real difference towards your future success. DCU Faculty of Science and Health, offers over 20 great honours degree programmes in the following areas: Chemical Sciences Physical Sciences Biotechnology
Health & Human Performance Nursing Mathematical Sciences
Also, as most of our degree programmes include paid work experience, you’ll gain valuable practical experience, earn some money and enjoy a genuine competitive edge when you graduate. Full details of our programmes are available on our website at: www.dcu.ie/science LIVE LINK www.dcu.ie/science
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The COLLEGE of SCIENCE, ENGINEERING and FOOD SCIENCE
Do you want to be part of the Smart Economy, contribute to our Innovation Island, play a vital role in Ireland’s future, have an impact on the environment? Our world class research-led teaching, excellent student experience and state of the-art-facilitates will be your foundations of success.
Degree Entry Courses in the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science Computer Science CK401 (BSc)
Process and Chemical Engineering (BE)
BSc (Hons) Food Marketing & Entrepreneurship
CK 402 BSc (Hons) Biological & Chemical Science
Civil and Environmental Engineering (BE Civil)
Nutritional Sciences (BSc)
CK 404 Bsc (Hons) Environmental & Earth System Science
Electrical and Electronic Engineering (BE)
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Genetics CK405 (BSc)
Energy Engineering (BE)
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LIVE LINK www.ucc.ie/en/study/ College of Science, Engineering & Food Science, UCC Tel: 021 490 3075 Email:collegeoffice@sefs.ucc.ie Web:http://www.ucc.ie/en/study/
Ioannis Dokas
Early warning systems to help decision makers C
ritical systems are defined as those systems, natural or industrial, that can impact severely on human wellbeing when they go wrong. Decision makers need to know when things are likely to go wrong, and to make the right decisions to avert disaster. Enter Ioannis Dokas, a Greek civil engineer, who has been awarded a DERP grant to develop early warning systems for Ireland’s water treatment plants. The goal he has set himself over the five years is to develop a computer modelling system to monitor our water treatment plants, and be capable of alerting decision makers when there is a problem developing, and to provide them with information to deal with the problem. Ioannis moved to Ireland in January 2007 to the Cork Constraint Computer Centre, UCC, from at Otto Von Guericke University Madeburg. In Germany he had been on a Marie Curie fellowship focused on developing what he terms ‘knowledge-based systems for decision support’. The focus here was primarily on developing early warning systems for landfill sites, and his system sought to incorporate all the knowledge contained within an organisation running the landfill, public or private. “The knowledge from the entire organisation that runs the landfill, whether that is a local authority or a private company can be modelled,”
said Ioannis. “The tools for the model have a universal language made up of diagrams, arrows, circles, symbols that mean something and can be understood by everyone. A manager of a landfill could use this system to alert his supervisor that if the landfill continues to be run in the same way that these types of problems will arise. An organisation will typically use the system to try and minimise events that they don’t want to happen. With landfills that could be leaks, emissions, and leachate going into the groundwater.” While in Madeburg, Ioannis saw an advertisement for DERP, seeking applications from those interested in doing research into ‘ontology in decision support systems’. Ontology in this context means knowledge of the reality of systems in question. In other words, how decisions about important systems are made in reality by decision makers, and how the knowledge upon which these decisions are currently made can be improved. He was immediately interested, applied for DERP, and was approved. Ioannis is currently in the process of setting up his research team and one of the first goals will be to develop a language that can be used by everyone that has a direct interest in early
warning systems for water treatment plants. When this is achieved, the business of gathering knowledge about the organisations running Ireland’s water treatment plants will begin, and a computer model reflecting that knowledge built. Ioannis said there is a lack of research worldwide into how to develop and design human centred early warning systems, even though big organisations, like the UN, have been talking a lot about developing such systems in the last few years. All of these discussions were triggered following the Asian Tsunami, he said, and this lead to people thinking how monitoring systems that could be applied to potential natural disasters, as well as industrial risks and hazards, can be put in place to save lives. The setting up of an early warning system for water treatment plants will be a challenge to Ioannis and his team. To date there is only one fully functional early warning system in place worldwide. That is on the Japanese railway system, where the trains are primed to shut down, when the tracks pick up signs of an earthquake.
Costs nothing and you gain a lot
Report: Seán Duke
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Are you
LEAVING interested in but CERTIFICATE Science, unsure of STUDENTS ! which Science discipline to study?
If you apply for any of the following courses, you enter a COMMON FIRST YEAR. At the end of first year, irrespective of which course you started, you can transfer into year 2 of any of the other courses subject to availability of places. GMIT offers four HONOURS DEGREE (Level 8) COURSES in: l Applied FRESHWATER & MARINE BIOLOGY (CAO Code GA780; Points in 2009 – 300) l CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE (CAO Code GA 782; Points in 2009 – 305) l PHYSICS & INSTRUMENTATION (CAO Code GA 773; CAO points in 2009 – 280) l APPLIED BIOLOGY & BIOPHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE (CAO Code GA 781; CAO points in 2009 – 305). CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATES OF THESE COURSES:
Graduates of Applied Freshwater & Marine Biology: Employment opportunities in: Environmental Consultancy / Management, Marine Biology Research, Marine Fisheries Management, Oceanography, Aquaculture Development, Public Sector Agencies such as Environmental Protection Agency, Fisheries Boards, teaching (this course is recognised for admission to the higher diploma in education, H Dip Ed), Marine Institute. Graduate, Imelda Hehir: Currently works in the Marine Institute in Galway in Marine Biology Research. “The Freshwater & Marine Biology course is an excellent course for anyone interested in this exciting branch of Science.”
Graduates of Physics & Instrumentation: Employment opportunities in: Biomedical & Pharmaceutical companies, Medical Physics, Astrophysics, Semiconductor Sector, Nanotechnology, Software Development, Biotechnology Sector. Teaching – this course is recognized for admission to the higher diploma in Education (H Dip Ed.)
Graduate Jacqueline Keane: Currently working with NASA in California – “The common first year in GMIT Science is a great system – it allows one to change their mind after one year in college. My job with NASA involves exploring space, stars and heavenly structures from the NASA base in California.”
Graduates of Chemical & Pharmaceutical Science: Employment opportunities in: Pharmaceutical Sector, Food Industries, Chemical Sector, Biotechnology companies, Biomedical Sector, Research & Development. Teaching – this course is recognized for admission to the higher diploma in Education (H Dip Ed.). Public sector employers include Public Analyst Lab, Environmental Protection Agency. Graduate, Peggy McGlynn: “I studied Chemical & Pharmaceutical Science at GMIT and currently work as a Forensic Scientist in the Forensic Science Laboratory in Dublin. I found GMIT a great place to study with a low student / staff ratio which provides a great learning environment.”
Graduates of Applied Biology & Biopharmaceutical Science: Employment opportunities in: Biotechnology Sector, Diagnostic Companies, Pharmaceutical & Biomedical sector. Public sector employers such as Irish Medicines Board, Environmental Protection Agency, Public Analysts Lab. Teaching – this course is recognized for admission to the higher diploma in Education (H Dip Ed.). Graduate, Bryan Cavanagh: “I had a job before I completed my final exams – as did many of my class mates. My job is in Regulatory Affairs. The day to day work involves project management and people management. I highly recommend this course.”
Further information: Log onto www.gmit.ie/science Email: science@gmit.ie Phone 091 742178
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Women in engineering
IN November ten awards, valued at €20,000 each, were presented to the winners in the Science Foundation Ireland/Dell Young Women in Engineering Scholarship scheme. The aim of the awards is to encourage more women to make a career in engineering. Each award winner receives a Dell notebook computer, together with an assistance and mentoring support package. The winners also have an opportunity to spend summer months working in university or industry research. The awards have been running for the past four years, and to enter, applicants send in their CV, a letter of recommendation from their school or teacher, and a personal statement on why they want to pursue an engineering degree.
The winners Triona Byrne. St Wolstan’s Community School, Celbridge, Co Kildare Trinity College Dublin TR032 Engineering Deirdre Doody Coláiste an Phiarsaigh, Glanmire, Co. Cork University College Cork CK603 – Energy Engineering Clare Dunne Patrician College, Portlaoise, Co. Laois University College Cork CK603 – Energy Engineering
Fiona Edwards-Murphy Coláiste Treasa, Kanturk, Co. Cork University College Cork CK650 – Electrical and Electronic Engineering Helen Fletcher Muckross Park, Dominican College, Dublin 4 Trinity College Dublin TR032 Engineering Clíona Flood Coláiste Ailigh, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal National University of Ireland, Galway GY401- Engineering (Undenominated)
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Pictured in Dublin’s Royal College of Physicians at the recent announcement of the Science Foundation/Dell ‘Young Women in Engineering’ 2009 Scholarship Awards was Kate Gillen, Trinity College Dublin, with fellow scholarship winners. Picture Jason Clarke
Kate Gillen Manor House School, Dublin 5 Trinity College Dublin TR032 Engineering Fiona Malone Scoil Mhuire, Greenhill, Co. Tipperary University of Limerick LM071 – Biomedical Engineering Anne O’Connor Loreto College, Foxrock, Dublin 18 University College Dublin DN080, Engineering Science Rhoda Wade Loreto College, Foxrock, Dublin 18 University College Dublin DN077 – Engineering (Undenominated)
SCIEnCE In ATHLonE Dr Paul Tomkins
A
cquisition of a science degree may in part be motivated by a desire to better understand our world, but it also inherently demonstrates a capacity to analyse, integrate and present information and master a host of generic skills that are core for multiple careers.
technologies, with an emphasis on appreciating the potential of commercialising innovation – in the future this and other science programmes will deploy significant higher educationindustry collaborations.
The School of Science in Athlone Institute of Technology offers a diverse range of programmes that meet these common outcomes, but also provide clear and substantive career paths in the growth orientated S&T and healthcare sectors. Programmes include: biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, toxicology, chemistry, pharmacy technician, dental and veterinary nursing.
A multidisciplinary programme that captures cell and molecular biology, chemistry and environmental science is unique to AIT – toxicology. There is currently a shortage of toxicologists in the UK, Germany and Ireland and this pressure will grow as a consequence of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals), a European Commission programme for increasing regulation of chemicals.
Biotechnology is an embracing applied life science discipline, which is devoted to the application of biosystems to the production of knowledge, products and services. Well established areas of biotechnology research and associated industry include: bio-pharmaceuticals, agrichemicals, biomaterials, waste management and diagnostics, but it also embraces new cutting edge disciplines such as synthetic biology. Biotechnology and IT have been recognised for a number of years in developed countries, including Ireland, as representing key areas for development of a knowledge economy. Despite the global economic slowdown, biologics have grown throughout 2008 and 2009, driven by continued high growth in sales of antibodies and insulins. Pfizer and Eli Lilly are both building new biologics facilities in Cork, and Merck is building a new vaccines plant in Carlow. “I would say if you were to do a tot-up at the end of the year there would be an increase in biotechnology employment in Ireland,” says Michael Gillen, director of the Irish BioIndustry Association. This is an exception. The BSc in Biotechnology in AIT embraces advanced cell and molecular biology and an understanding of processing LIVEK LIN
To support its undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes, the School of Science in AIT undertakes unique research and is part of national,EU and US partner collaborations. Current research includes:cell line development,new toxicology screening tests, endocrine disruption, substrate synthesis as a basis for novel therapeutics, novel biocide development, MRSA profiling, drug uptake studies and nanotoxicology. A recognised feature of science programmes in Athlone is the high level of real world application which runs through all courses. This is of major benefit to graduates when seeking employment and has created a very positive reputation for our graduates amongst indigenous and international employers. Another strength of science courses at AIT is the close-knit learning community that binds students and academics to a common purpose. To discover more about college life at AIT and to explore the full range of science opportunities, visit www.ait.ie. Paul Tomkins is Head of School of Science at AIT
www.ait.ie
Think smart g n i y d u d t n s a f o g n i k Thin e s o o h c ? e g e l l o c n i e c GMIT ! scien The Department of Life & Physical Sciences at GMIT offers the following honours degrees: l APPLIED FRESHWATER & MARINE BIOLOGY
GA 780
l APPLIED BIOLOGY & BIOPHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE GA 781 l CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE
GA 782
l PHYSICS & INSTRUMENTATION
GA 783
l MEDICAL SCIENCE
GA785
l FORENSIC SCIENCE & ANALYSIS
GA786
BE MORE THAN JUST A NUMBER ! While other colleges may have a few hundred students in year 1, we target approximately 100 students for our first year intake for the above courses combined, and furthermore students are in groups of 16 for laboratory work. This ensures the best of both worlds – the low student numbers provide an excellent teaching environment and help ensure that you are successful in your studies. While, at the same time, you are in a college of over 6000 students in the student capital of Ireland!
DO YOU WANT TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY ? In GMIT our courses are unique in that students do project work from year 1 onwards. With many miniprojects and a number of major projects completed over the course of your degree you will learn vital skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and project management – skills much sought after by employers. Practical work also forms a large element of our courses, and students gain excellent experience in
completing laboratory practicals in state of the art laboratories. Also, with many marks going for lab work, you can have accumulated a large percentage of your final mark before you sit any exams. Other features of our courses:
WORK PLACEMENT IN ALL OUR COURSES Paid work placement is extremely valuable in providing work experience and job opportunities – many companies recruit the students that they have taken on for industrial placement.
APPLIED NATURE OF OUR COURSES The course material is designed in conjunction with employers and our courses are all applied in nature – giving our students an advantage when starting their career.
MODULARIZED COURSES This allows students more choice in which subjects they study.
JOBS Our students continue to enjoy a relatively high employment rate upon graduation. The applied nature of our courses, the high amount of project work and practical work and the fact that industrial placement is a feature of ALL our courses ensures that our students are best placed to gain employment and develop rewarding careers upon graduation. More Info? LIVE LINK www.gmit.ie/science Phone: 091 742178 E Mail: science@gmit.ie Web: www.gmit.ie/science
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Edward Bach
mathematics you are aware that there are very few jobs doing mathematics or even teaching mathematics to students for whom it is the primary subject. So I had an open mind about careers,” he says. Having an open-mind did not exclude having preferences. “I always was interested in working in the space industry; so when just after completing my studies a friend from college told me about a position in his company, Computer Applied Techniques, Ltd. (CAPTEC), I applied for it.”
Career in the Space Industry Marie-Catherine Mousseau talked to a scientist who uses his mathematical talents to keep spacecrafts on track. “I was fascinated by dinosaurs and rocketry as a child. In science, I like the absence of social posturing and social prejudice and (especially in mathematics) the connection with past masters and the feeling that the scientist is preserving and adding to a treasure that belongs to everyone.” This was Edward Bach’s inspired reply to my question as to why he had chosen a scientific career. It is always encouraging to realise science lovers can still hold their romantic view about science after many years working in a science-related industry. But Ed is not working in any kind of industry. He’s working in the space industry, more exactly in a software house that designs space software – that is software onboard satellites or spacecraft.
Maths
In spite of his love of rockets as a child, Ed had not really planned his career in relation to space. He had even thought of doing Arts as a degree. However,
How to get there he ended up studying maths. “My choice of mathematics was made for the following reasons: I enjoyed and obtained good results in mathematics and ‘arts’ subjects, i.e., languages, history, English; but I decided that I could pursue ‘arts’ subjects independently or through evening courses, etc., while for mathematics I really needed a teacher and a course of study.” His choice also made up for his mum’s regrets, who had always felt sorry for having opted for English instead of maths. Edward obtained a B.A in Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University, Batimore, USA, and a Ph.D at Trinity College, Dublin. He was still not sure where that would lead him though. “When you study
SCIENCE SPIN CHOOSING SCIENCE
Ed didn’t think getting the job was problematic: “At that time it was difficult to find people with experience in designing, building or testing this type of critical system (space software), so my lack of experience was not a particular disadvantage.” But he agrees it’s possible he had been lucky to come on the job market at the right time. “The big companies tend to go through cycles where they invest in inhouse development and cycles where they try to do everything through outside contractors,” he says. “Space work is dependent on government funding, also,” he continues, “and the perception of governments as to the return on investment varies, so that projects can be cut back or scrapped.” According to him, though, funding levels have remained relatively constant with respect to inflation.
LIVE LINK www.nuigalway.ie/science
NUI Galway’s new € 22 million Sports Centre
Science at NUI Galway
Science at NUI Galway has a long and proud tradition for teaching and research. Our graduates play a vital role in today’s high-tech knowledge based society. Our postgraduate programmes are led by world-class scientific research groups. NUI Galway offers both Undenominated (GY301) and Denominated Science degrees programmes. Undenominated Science is offered to students who wish to pursue a career in science but who have not yet decided on an area of specialism. The Undenominated programme allows students to choose from a broad range of subjects in YEAR 1 and features progressive specialisation in subsequent years.
Denominated programmes allow students to pursue defined courses of study. Current programmes include: • GY303: Biomedical Science • GY304: Biotechnology • GY306: Computing Studies/ Mathematical Science • GY308: Environmental Science • GY309: Financial Mathematics and Economics • GY310: Marine Science • GY313: Health & Safety Systems • GY314: Earth and Ocean Sciences • GY315: Physics and Applied Physics • GY316: Physics with Medical Physics • GY317: Physics with Astrophysics • GY318: Biopharmaceutical Chemistry
In response to an increasing demand for Medical Physicists, both nationally and internationally in recent years, the College is offering a new B.Sc. in Physics with Medical Physics. There has also been a refocusing of two programmes now entitled Physics and Applied Physics and Physics with Astrophysics. The new denominated BSc in Biopharmaceutical Chemistry will prepare students for the Biopharmaceutical Industry, which focuses on the production of therapeutic drugs by biological fermentation processes rather than by traditional chemical synthesis. Graduates will gain a wide range of expertise tailored to this industry. We hope to attract students who have an interest in both Chemistry and Biology.
For more information visit
www.nuigalway.ie/science
SEW – Science Experience Workshop Pictured at the NUI Galway Science Experience Workshop were Leaving Certificate students from Athenry Vocational School (left) James Connelly, from Cregmore, Co. Galway and (right) Shane Kelly, from Kiltullagh, Co. Galway. Also pictured (centred) is Dr Mark Foley, Vice Dean of Communications and Strategy, College of Science, NUI Galway. The College of Science at NUI Galway welcomes prospective students from second level schools to its Science Experience Workshops. These engaging programmes allow students to delve into a wide range of scientific disciplines and explore future career opportunities. Students take part in hands-on activities and experience working in world class research facilities and institutes. Some of the institutes visited by the students include Applied Optics, the Environmental Change Institute, the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science and the Regenerative Medicine Institute. Throughout the workshop, attendees
have the opportunity to ‘shadow’ scientists and gain an invaluable insight into a wide range of scientific disciplines. According to Dr Mark Foley, Vice Dean of Communications and Strategy, College of Science, NUI Galway: “The
Science Experience Workshop provides an excellent forum whereby students get information on the diverse range of undergraduate programmes available at NUI Galway. Students get to investigate the differences between various denominated and undenominated offerings. Panel discussions with current students and staff allowed the exchange of information with prospective students. Participants also have the chance to see the state-of-theart teaching, research and sporting facilities. This workshop offers participants the chance to experience life on campus while learning about Science and interacting with students, staff and their peers from across Ireland.”
The next workshop is scheduled to coincide with the NUI Galway Open Day which will be on April 24th 2010. For further information on the College of Science or future Science Experience Workshops, call 091 492182 or visit IVE http://www.nuigalway.ie/science/news.html L K LIN
SCIENCE SPIN CHOOSING SCIENCE
SPIN
LIVEK LIN
Guiding satellites
Ed’s job consists of building onboard software to guide satellites (or spacecraft) in space. He explains the basis of his work: “I have to develop and understand algorithms (series of instructions in a sequence which can be included in a program), use programming, simulate the space environment and the spacecraft behaviour using Newton’s laws,” he said. “I found the work difficult at the beginning, because I was not trained in engineering and the documentation is not always easy to understand.” But his mathematical background definitely helped and he soon got the hang of it. But what does onboard software for guidance satellites mean exactly? Ed gives us two examples of large projects on which he worked. The first one is the ISO project. ISO, which stands for ‘Infrared Space Observatory’ was a satellite launched by the European Space Agency for observing distant objects in infra-red. The software they designed was to enable self-guidance of the satellite in space, which according to Ed is critical for this type of satellites. “Self-monitoring was very important to avoid the many sources of light from the earth that could damage the instrument”, he explains (see box). Ed is happy to have witnessed the successful completion of the mission with his working software. The satellite lasted up to 28 months, as Ed points out enthusiastically.
Landing on a comet
After the success of the ISO mission, Edward tackled another challenging project, called Rosetta. The Rosetta mission is to perform a task unheard of so far in the history of humanity: Landing on a comet. Because a comet’s composition reflects the composition of the pre-solar nebula out of which the Sun and its orbiting planets developed, Rosetta has the potential to unravel the origin and evolution of the Solar System. Rosetta is to operate faraway in space, where communication delays would make monitoring from earth impossible. Here again, the spacecraft has to be able to self-monitor. Ed’s team intervened at the tricky part of the mission as they actually wrote a software part of the lander determining the way it separates from the mothership. “The comet is travelling
Infrared Space Observatory
ISO, which stands for ‘Infrared Space Observatory’, was the world’s first true orbiting infrared observatory. Launched by the European Space Agency, it was designed to observe the universe at the IR wavelengths (from 2.5 to 240 microns). In the infrared you can observe distant objects that you could not see in the visible because of all the surrounding dust. These can include galaxies or centres of galaxies, and even quasars (means ‘Quasi Stellar’… these objects are so far away that they look just like a star but are in fact clusters of thousands of stars in the centres of distant galaxies). And looking further in space means looking back in time. Some of the questions ISO was designed to answer include the origin of planets, the birth and death of stars, the chemistry of the Universe or the history of galaxies. While the software Edward Bach and his team built for ISO would accept ground commands designed to point the satellite in certain directions, its main purpose was automatic guiding. Ed explains why in this case you can’t always rely on manual guiding of the satellite from the ground: “ISO had an eccentric orbit which at certain times directed it very close to the earth,” he says. “There are lots of dangerous lights coming from there that can damage the instruments – mostly reflected sunlight from Earth, moon, planets, etc, in addition to direct light from the Sun – light sources which are extremely fast, so there is a critical three seconds window. If anything goes wrong during this tiny window of time, even just a computer reset, then the opportunity is lost,” Ed says. But Rosetta’s route to the comet is long. The spacecraft is also due to flyby and examine two asteroids on its way. Ed will have to wait a bit before witnessing whether the original make up of their lander will prove successful or not: Rosetta won’t cross the comet’s path for another four years or so.
SCIENCE SPIN CHOOSING SCIENCE
important for this type of satellite to avoid.” He adds: “and because there are so many, the satellite has to selforientate.” Eight or nine people from CAPTEC worked on the ISO project for 18 months. These included a mix of mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, electrical engineers, etc., who joined their effort for a fruitful result. Indeed, the mission was a great technical and scientific success – so successful that it was extended from the original planned 18 months and the satellite operated for 28 months. Ed explains that they are two major constraints on a satellite’s lifespan. - They need to use Helium to cool the instruments, and this evaporates over time - The propellant fuel, called hydrozine (an extremely poisonous liquid), gets used up. This satellite operated far better than specifications and its scientific results impacted on practically all fields of astronomy. Many of ISO’s discoveries haven’t come out yet because they are still being processed by the researchers. For up-to-date information about ISO discoveries please refer to: http:// iso.esac.esa.int/ Overall, the satellite was developed, manufactured, integrated and tested by an industrial consortium made up of 32 companies, mostly from Europe, headed by Aérospatiale, France.
Huge collaboration
Ed’s company CAPTEC had no involvement in the design of the scientific instruments in either ISO or Rosetta. Both missions represent fundamental scientific projects aimed at increasing human knowledge of the Universe. On Rosetta, for instance, instruments have been taken on board to look at a comet’s composition, as no comet has ever been studied before: “there would be cameras on the lander,
instruments to measure pressure, temperatures, the composition of the comet’s surface, ” he says. “But these are taken care of by other companies.” They also work with scientific Institutes in close collaboration with space scientists and physicists. But such costly fundamental projects such as ISO and Rosetta are ultimately under the umbrella of ESA. That is actually what Ed enjoys most about working on space applications. These cannot be the result of the work of one person but on the contrary require the participation of a multitude of dedicated experts. As he put it, “space applications involve collaboration between a large number of highly skilled people to meet complex and demanding requirements while delivering a quality product (hopefully on time and within the budget allocated).” So being able to communicate (especially where you are stuck or are having problems) is critical, “in fact it
is more important to be able to (and to know when and to whom to) describe a problem than to solve it,” he points out. “Similarly, being able to express oneself clearly is very important. Again it is probably more important to be able to describe a design or proposed solution at an early stage than to implement it and leave it poorly understood by others.” He adds: “And also you have to be prepared to wade into poorly structured and badly written documentation!”.
From there
Obviously Ed enjoys his work, and so much so that he has been working in the same company for 15 years. “I also have been lucky with my missions abroad, I have spent a lot of time in Holland, and in Cannes and Rome for my work, and have had shorter visits in other places: notably Toulouse, Grenoble, Munich and Darmstadt.” He has some regrets though, maybe those elicited by his original love
The Rosetta project Landing on a Comet
Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft aimed at studying the comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta consists of two main elements: the Rosetta space probe (mothership) and the Philae lander. The probe is named after the Rosetta Stone, as it is hoped the mission will help unlock the secrets of the early solar system, before planets formed. The lander is named after the Nile island Philae where an obelisk was found which helped decipher the Rosetta Stone. Rosetta is very special as it will be the first to orbit and land on a comet. No other previous mission has had the potential to look back to the infancy of our Solar System and elucidate the role that comets may have played in the beginnings of life on Earth. As in the case of ISO, automatic guiding was required but not for the same reasons Contrary to ISO, Rosetta is a deep space mission. This means it is dealing with a distant spacecraft which due to time constraints would be impossible to operate from the ground. Certain positions also have to be avoided; for instance looking
directly at the sun would damage the telescope - “exactly like looking directly at the sun damage your eyes.” Edward Bach points out. But the core purpose of the software Ed and his team wrote is to ensure that the lander actually lands on the comet – which is a major challenge. Ed explains that the usual way that a lander gets separated from its mothership is using an explosive device. However, with an explosion you have only one chance – you cannot get it wrong and landing on a comet would be too small of a time window to take that risk.
– maths. “I think I could have been a good mathematics tutor and I regret that many people have had poor experiences in learning mathematics at school and university.” But he has new projects for the future which keep him motivated. He would like to participate in testing satellite guiding software or even operating satellites himself – that is starting to use the type of space software he has been building for years! “I might also be interested to lead a larger project that I have been involved with,” Ed says. But he adds: “…although I would still like to have some technical involvement.” Like many scientists, Edward Bach will always remain an inventor at heart, more than a leader… who above all likes to think, create, and design things which do work.
The lander designers came up with an ingenious idea to solve this problem: using wax to connect the lander to the mothership. To separate it then you just need to melt the wax ‘which is much softer and allows several attempts.” Ed says. “Three of us were working full time on the lander software for 8 months,” he indicates. “We wrote some of the algorithms ourselves and simulated the communication with the mothership and the hardware behaviour.” They also worked in collaboration with physicists and space scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany for the development of the algorithms. “Usually this type of experiments are developed with scientific Institutes,” Ed points out. “And here again the ultimate customer was ESA,” he adds. “It is very much a collaborative work.” Launched in 2004, Rosetta is still on his way to the comet which it is due to reach in early 2014. Following a period of observation and mapping it should land on the comet in November 2014. If it does land we’ll have a drink with Edward!
Where is Rosetta now : http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/SEMRZF1PGQD_0.html
SCIENCE SPIN CHOOSING SCIENCE
LIVEK LIN
Department of LIVE LINK www.gmit.ie/science
Mathematics & Computing in GMIT Graduate profiles
Kenneth Kirrane
Kenneth is originally from Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, and graduated from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in 2001 with a B.Sc. in Software Development. After his final exams, Kenneth journeyed “down under” to Australia to spend a year working and travelling in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. Upon his return in June 2002, Kenneth joined VistaTEC in Dublin in a QA role. VistaTEC is a leading Irish-owned provider of Localisation and Globalisation services. In November 2004, Kenneth returned to Galway and to the GMIT to undertake a Research Masters working on the “Billing4Rent” project, an Enterprise Ireland funded “Innovation Partnerships” project. At the end of the Masters project,
Computing now pervades nearly all aspects of our everyday lives. Computer experts/specialists are found in every walk of life Retail, Manufacturing, Education, Research, Administration, Medicine, Distribution, Insurance, Banking, Film/Game/Video/Music Production, Public and Civil services. Few, if any, modern businesses could survive without computing. A career in computing is exciting but it is demanding and will involve continual learning of new technologies. Courses at GMIT reflect the job environment and we have a high reputation for satisfying the needs of the marketplace. We constantly review our course content and regularly update our syllabi. This is reflected in the introduction of a new degree course in Business Computing and Digital Media that gives the student a broad base in modern computer skills and positions the student for potential entry to a wide range of employment opportunities. The entry-level courses start at the fundamentals of computing.
Kenneth joined Vulcan Solutions; a leading provider of Business Applications and Custom Software Solutions to the Financial Services sector.
Sabrina McNeely
Sabrina is a Mayo native, hailing from Knockmore, near Ballina. Sabrina graduated with a B.Sc. in Software Development from the GalwayMayo Institute of Technology in 1999. Upon finishing her B.Sc., Sabrina was employed by Nortel Networks. Nortel Networks are a leading developer and supplier of Telecommunications products, serving both service provider and enterprise
We offer two ordinary Bachelor of Science Degrees. 1. Bachelor Degree in Business Computing and Digital Media Subjects studied include multimedia development, network computing, digital photography, computer forensics, applied modelling and simulation. Graduates of this course have great career opportunities in the area of business computing, digital media and IT training and support. 2. Bachelor Degree in Computing (Software Development). Subjects studied include systems analysis and design, operating systems design, software quality management, graphics, programming, database systems. Graduates of this course will function as computer professionals in all areas of software design, development and maintenance. We also offer two one year “add on” Honours level Degree courses which deepen the knowledge level and broadens the skill set the primary degrees.
SCIENCE SPIN
CHOOSING SCIENCE
customers. Sabrina worked in Nortel’s Galway office for 2 years, before transferring to the Nortel Melbourne office in 2001 for 8 months. Upon leaving Nortel, Sabrina travelled throughout Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia, before returning to Ireland to join Celerity, a leading Irish provider of EDI and supply chain automation solutions, in January 2003. In November 2004, Sabrina also returned to Galway to undertake a Research Masters on the “Billing4Rent” project. At the end of the Masters project, Sabrina joined Storm Technology, a renowned Galway based provider of solutions for the Financial Services, Public Sector, Construction, Manufacturing, Engineering and Transport sectors.
The Bachelor Degree in Business Computing and Digital Media leads to: 1. B.Sc. (Honours) in Information Technology for Business. The Bachelor Degree in Computing (Software Development) leads to — 2. B.Sc. (Honours) in Software Development. Job placement for these courses has been very successful with many of our students receiving offers prior to leaving college. The Software Development courses have a heavy emphasis on practical programming whereas the business/ media-oriented courses are directed towards the provision and deployment of computer-related solutions, presentations and products. At post-graduate level the School offers a modular one year M.Sc.in Computing. This course was carefully designed in close collaboration with local industries. It is ideally suited to existing I.T. professionals and features a range of advanced subject modules as well as a convenient course delivery schedule.
LIVE LINK www.gmit.ie/science
John Finn, far right, taking part in a biodiversity workshop held earlier this year at Johnstown Castle. Staff from a number of organisations were at the workshop on managing diversity on field margins and along riparian watercourses. would have meant very good money, the thought of it didn’t appeal to him. “My results were such that I could have done actuary and made money, but the idea of working out the statistics of life expectancy in some office every day didn’t attract me. I would say to students that they should always follow their interest, their passion. You will always be successful in life if you do what you are really interested in,” said John.
RESEARCH
John Finn
‘BIG BANG’ to the ‘DUNG BEETLE’ INSPIRATION I n school he dreamed of studying the cosmos, the birth of the Universe and all the great questions of physics. A few years later, he was studying for a doctorate, but his chosen topic was not mysterious dark matter or black holes, but rather the humble ‘dung beetle’. Where did it all go wrong Mr Best? Well, actually, for Dr John Finn, Teagasc Research Officer, nothing had gone wrong. What happened was that his teenage dreams changed, and he formed new dreams. After entering UCC in 1990, John quickly realised that physics was not where his heart was. In terms of what gave him satisfaction as an object of study, dung beetles were higher on John’s list than the big bang, and eternal question - “How did we get here?” John soon ‘came out of the closet’ and admitted to himself he was an ecologist, not a physicist. “I found as early as first year that I was very interested in doing field work, getting outside, and began to get more interested in biology than physics,” said John, a Teagasc research officer, specialising in agroecology, based at Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford.
Like many professional scientists, John, a native of Killarney, was inspired by a teacher at primary school that brought his class on nature walks around the area, renowned around the world for its scenic beauty. John didn’t realise in primary school that he lived in beautiful part of the world. “It took time in England for me to realise that,” he said. After primary, John, by now a science enthusiast, and very interested to know how things like electricity, magnetism and the Universe in general worked, signed up for all three science subjects, biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as maths. Again, he was blessed to have teachers that furthered his interest, and passion for all things science.
COLLEGE
Unsurprisingly, John decided to study science in university, and entered UCC in 1990. The fact that he had done all three science subjects in school was a great help in first year, and he did very well in his exams. At this stage he could have opted out of science altogether and taken up a career as an actuary, such were the quality of his results. But, although this
SCIENCE SPIN CHOOSING SCIENCE
John, during his post-graduate studies, and into his post-doctoral work, expanded his horizons, linking up with researchers in many other countries, and being part of large scale research groups. This led to him getting his name on a research paper published by Science, one of the world’s leading journals, and this greatly helped him get a job. He got a job in Reading University in the UK, but, as a junior member of staff, he found himself burdened with a large number of teaching hours, and little time for research. This was a less than satisfactory situation and he began to chart a route back to Ireland. This led him for a time to UCC, where he worked, before his current job came up at Teagasc. The Teagasc post was offered to him in 2002, and he moved back to Ireland to take up the post. John said that he has greatly enjoyed his last seven years, with his time taken up by writing funding proposals, helping post-grads, doing research, and admin. The only part of the job he is not keen on is the admin. This takes up about 20 per cent of his time. His main area of interest is biodiversity, which is the field that studies the diversity of plant and animal species, and how that has changed, and continues to change over time. As species continue to be lost in the Irish countryside, it’s an area important to all of us. The physicist-turned-ecologist, couldn’t be happier. This is a man that loves his job. Report: Seán Duke
Science@DIT
HELPING TO SHAPE THE FUTURE LIVE LINK www.dit.ie/faculties/science/ Scientists ask and seek answers to questions about the world around us. Over centuries they have made discoveries and invented important technologies for the benefit of humankind. Science and scientists influence every facet of modern living. When you choose a career in science, you become a key citizen in your country, someone with the potential to shape the modern world, someone who can open up new frontiers. The Dublin Institute of Technology’s Faculty of Science offers programmes in several scientific disciplines, including Biological Sciences, Chemical, Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Science, Computing, Mathematical Sciences and Physics. Our programmes lead to exciting careers in science and technology, including forensics, optometry, genetics, mathematics, mobile technology and even computer games.
Our programmes are offered at many levels, including three-year ordinary degrees, four-year honours degrees and top-up honours degrees for students with an ordinary degree or equivalent, in addition to postgraduate taught programmes and postgraduate research programmes. Postgraduate research in the Faculty of Science is thriving, with over 100 postgraduates students and 10 postdoctoral fellows. We offer many opportunities to you to develop your career path and explore your potential.
s "IOMEDICAL AND 0ARAMEDICAL s !NALYTICAL 0HARMACEUTICAL Environmental and Materials Science s #OMPUTING AND )NFORMATION Technology If you plan to build your career in one of these areas, consider the programmes in the Faculty of Science at the Dublin Institute of Technology.
The highly interdisciplinary programmes in the Faculty of Science determine its three particular strengths:
Full-time, undergraduate programmes available in the Dublin Institute of Technology’s Faculty of Science: Biomedical and Paramedical DT204 BSc (Honours) Biomedical Sciences 4 years. 1 year hospital placement. DT223 BSc (Honours) Human Nutrition & Dietetics 4 years. Offered jointly with Trinity College Dublin. DT224 BSc (Honours) Optometry 4 years. DT229 BSc (Honours) Clinical Measurement 4 years. 1 year hospital placement. DT235 BSc (Honours) Physics with Medical Physics & Bioengineering 4 years. 7 month industrial/hospital placement. DT226 Option 1: BSc (Honours) Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Biotechnology Top-up, 1.5 years. DT226 Option 2: BSc (Honours) Medical & Molecular Cytology Top-up, 1.5 years.
Computing and Information Technology DT228 BSc (Honours) Computer Science 4 years. DT211 BSc (Honours) Computing 4 years. DT205 BSc (Honours) Mathematical Sciences 4 years. DT220 BSc (Honours) Industrial Mathematics 4 years.
Analytical, Pharmaceutical, Environmental, and Materials Science DT203 BSc (Honours) Forensic & Environmental Analysis 4 years. DT222 BSc (Honours) Physics Technology 4 years. DT212 BSc (Ordinary) Science 3 years.
DT227 BSc (Honours) Science with Nanotechnology 4 years, 7 month industrial placement. DT259 BSc (Ordinary) Biosciences 3 years. DT260 BSc (Ordinary) Industrial & Environmental Physics 3 years. DT261 BSc (Ordinary) Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmaceutical Sciences 3 years. DT299 BSc (Honours) Chemical Sciences with Medicinal Chemistry 4 years.
Contact Details: Ciarán O’Leary Faculty of Science Dublin Institute of Technology Kevin St, Dublin 8 ciaran.oleary@dit.ie Tel : 01 402 4718
LIVEK LIN
Dan Milbourne
Bringing strength to potato breeding ormer competitive body-builder, and plant geneticist, Dan Milbourne, is improving Teagasc potato breeding programmes by identifying genes that produce useful traits. It comes as something of a surprise to learn that mild-mannered Dan, who is in his 30s, was a competitive power lifter, until not so long ago, and interested in building ‘muscles’. His interest in science, however, dates right back to primary school when he boldly told his teacher and his classmates: “I want to be a biochemistry professor.”
F
DECLARATION
That extraordinary declaration distinguished him from his schoolmates at primary school in Ballylongford Co Kerry – a village near Listowel with a population of a few hundred. Kerry might be a GAA heartland, and home to one of the richest Irish accents in the land, but, due to time spent in England, there is little or no trace of Kerry in Dan’s voice. But, the lack of a Kerry accent does not take away from the fact he sees Ireland as his home. So, Dan’s curiosity about the world around him drew him towards science early on. There were also some family influences that helped. He had a relation that was indeed a professor of biochemistry, and his father was an engineer. So science was in his blood.
Following primary school, Dan went to secondary school in nearby Tarbert. There he showed a natural interest in the sciences and took all three main science subjects: chemistry, physics and maths. However, his natural interest was not given much of a push as Dan recalls that there were very few experiments conducted by the teachers. However, as anyone that has taken a science degree in university will say, it is a huge advantage going into first year in college having done all three sciences at school. Dan did his Leaving Certificate in 1989, and then decided to go to University College Cork, where he began a General Science degree. A promising career in science beckoned.
BODY BUILDER
Initially, it was Dan’s intention to specialise in physiology, as he had a great interest in subject stemming from his favoured sport – competitive body building and power lifting. Dan recalls that he had no interest in football, or the other team sports, but he did have a great interest in “muscles” and building strength and this drew him to physiology. After he was some way into his undergraduate course Dan began to take an interest in plant science. “I didn’t think that plants could be that interesting,” he said. Like many other science students before him, Dan was diverted into an area he hadn’t considered.
SCIENCE SPIN CHOOSING SCIENCE
He finished out his undergraduate degree in Cork, and he decided he wanted to do research, and began looking around for a suitable place to do his PhD – he found what he was looking for at the University of Dundee, which had some excellent plant researchers. He completed his PhD, worked on another PhD project, followed up by post-doctoral work – all at the University of Dundee. Reaching the end of his post-doc Dan was keen to see if there was a research post available in Ireland that would enable him to get home. “I saw an ad for a plant scientist with Teagasc in the New Scientist. I applied for the job, and I got it. That was eight years ago,” said Dan who is now in his 30s. By the time Dan got his first ‘real job’ in science, he had been studying and researching for approximately 10 years. His starting salary, despite all this effort, did not exactly impress his relatives, some of whom were surprised that his salary was so low.
ADVICE
“I don’t think that people should go into science for the money,” said Dan. He is quite happy in his post, however, because he is afforded the opportunity to be ‘creative’, and to come up with problems that are worthy of being solved. “It is not the typical 9 to 5 job in that sense,” said Dan, and as if to prove it, he would be working late that evening.
Science @ GMIT, Galway Campus Points for the Science degrees in GMIT @ Galway have been amongst the highest of all the Institutes of Technology and the Universities for the last number of years. The reasons students give for choosing GMIT@Galway to do their Science degree include:
Field Trips
Students of the Freshwater & Marine Biology course complete numerous fieldtrips at home and abroad.
Projects
Extensive exposure to project work develops skills such as critical thinking, decision making, project management and planning – skills much sought after by employers.
Industrial Placement
Placement at home or abroad: Industrial placements gained over the years by students vary from most of the major companies in Ireland to NASA, the Mayo clinic and placements in Europe and Africa. All degree courses now have an industrial placement integrated into the programme. This gives students valuable work experience and helps them develop exciting and well paid careers.
Practicals
Practical laboratory work forms a major part of all programmes – this gives students an excellent science education and helps students build up marks as they progress through each year of study.
Small class sizes
– this helps provide an excellent learning environment.
Excellent employment record
– look at some of our graduate profiles in the college prospectus. Due to the high level of practical work and project work and due to the applied nature of our degrees, many graduates gain employment quickly. This employment is typically well paid and in growth areas. LIVEK LIN
www.gmit.ie/science
As people move up the ladder in science, they often get drawn away from their lab, and their research, into more administrative roles. For Dan that’s not a problem, as he enjoys the admin side of his job, while also looking forward to interacting with his PhD students. For those considering applying for science courses in 2010, Dan said that it was advisable to try for general science courses, rather than courses that are very specialised from day one. “There is no way that a 17-year-old going to college is going to know what they will end up finding interesting. With general science, students can easily switch interests.”
RESEARCH
One of the highlights of Dan’s career to date has been his work as part of the Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium. The potato has now been sequenced, and this will greatly help Dan in his bid to identify genes in the potato that are responsible for useful traits, such as drought, potato blight (it still exists) or pest resistance. Dan works closely with potato breeders at Teagasc. The Potato Breeding Project at Oak Park Research Centre has been in progress since the 1960s. A total of 33 new potato varieties have been produced from the Project over the decades, including the highly successful ‘Rooster’ variety,
which features prominently in Irish supermarkets. The interaction with breeders and Dan is characterised by attempting to hone in on genes of interest that are producing features of interest in the potato, and to incorporate this into a more specific breeding programme. This is essentially a more targeted method – using new genetic technology – of doing what potato breeders have done for many years.
Report: Seán Duke
LIVE LINK www.scieng.ul.ie
The Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Limerick invites you to share in the experience of our
The Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Limerick invites you to share in the experience of our
progressive and exciting campus near Limerick City. Enhancing the ‘student experience’ is one of our core values. Emphasis is placed progressive and exciting campus near Limerick City. Enhancing the ‘student experience’ is one of our core values. on easing the transition for students entering our programmes.
Emphasis is placed on easing the transition for students entering our programmes.
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Four new exciting programmes launched for the 2010/2011 Academic Year:
Four new exciting programmes launched for the 2010/2011 Academic Year: in Mathematics and Physics LM088—BScLM088—BSc in Mathematics and Physics LM115—BE in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering LM115—BE in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering LM116—BELM116—BE Undenominated Engineering (Common(Common Entry) Entry) Undenominated Engineering LM117—BSc in Undenominated Science (Common Entry) LM117—BSc in Undenominated Science (Common Entry)
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Special Mathematics Entrance Exam for those who meet the CAO requirements for entry into all of Special Mathematics Honours and Ordinary Level Entrance Exam for those who meet the CAO requirements for our undergraduate programmes but do not achieve the mathematics requirements for their CAO entry into allThe of our undergraduate programmes but notafter achieve mathematics for their results CAO choice. choice. exam date is approximately tendo days thethe release of therequirements Leaving Certificate in The exam date is approximately ten days after the release of the Leaving Certificate results in August 2010. August 2010.
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The UL Mathematics Learning Centre, The National Science Learning Centre and and the ICT Centre The UL Mathematics Learning Centre, The National Science Learning Centre the Learning ICT Learning
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Centre offer one-to-one support, additional tutorials, a drop-in centre andarea. a supervised study area. offer one-to-one support, additional tutorials, a drop-in centre and a supervised study The Mathematics Learning The Mathematics CentreOffice in cooperation with the Faculty Office free honours Centre in cooperation Learning with the Faculty offer free honours mathematics tutorialsoffer to Leaving Certificate students mathematics tutorials to Leaving Certificate students throughout the academic year. throughout the academic year. •
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Co-operative Education and Teaching Practice placements in industry, education and business for all undergraduate degree programmes.
Co-operative Education and Teaching Practice placements in industry, education and business for all undergraduate degree programmes.
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UL is situated on a superb riverside campus of over 133 hectares on the River Shannon.
UL is situated on a superb riverside campus of over 133 hectares on the River Shannon.
World Class Cultural and Sporting Facilities (including a 50m pool ) and on-campus student
World Class Cultural and Sporting (including a 50m pool ) and on-campus student accommodation accommodation further enhanceFacilities this exceptional learning and working environment. further enhance this exceptional learning and working environment.
University Sport and Recreational Clubs and Societies appreciates the participation and contribution
University Sport and Recreational Clubs and Societies appreciates participation which students from different backgrounds and cultures makethe to campus life.and contribution which students from different backgrounds and cultures make to campus life.
Continuous assessment in all programmes
Continuous assessment in all programmes
For a full list of all degree programmes and further information visit www.scieng.ul.ie For a full list of all degree programmes and further information visit www.scieng.ul.ie or Email: Siobhan.Harris@ul.ie or Vicky.Kelly@ul.ie, Tel: 00353 61 202421 / 202642 or Email: Siobhan.Harris@ul.ie or Vicky.Kelly@ul.ie, Tel: 00353 61 202421 / 202642
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EUCYS 2009
Young scientists take centre stage Marie-Catherine reports that when 140 young scientists from all around Europe presented their award winning projects in Paris two boys from Cork were among the first prize winners. esigning a new type of vehicle to explore Venus; building a plane that can fly backwards; creating an infrared camera aimed at visualising veins, thus making injections easier; these were all impressive projects recently presented at a EU contest by youngsters aged no more than 20. Two of a team were just 14 and 15. Along with around 140 young science students from 38 countries (all selected winners from their own country), John O’Callaghan and Liam McCarthy participated in the EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) held in the prestigious Palais de la Découverte in Paris last September. From Ireland, the two boys are also among the first prize winners of EUCYS. Liam and John probably impressed the jury with their youth, their simplicity and modesty, which contrasted with the professionalism of
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John O’Callaghan and Liam McCarthy receiving their award at the Palais de la Découverte their achievement. They are both sons of Cork farmers and tackled a very specific problem: the assessment of the somatic cell content of milk. Somatic cells are leucocytes (white blood cells). Quantified as cells per ml, the number of somatic cells in the milk increases in response to pathogenic bacteria, reflecting infection in the mammary gland of the cow. A milk sample that contains a high content of somatic cells is more difficult to process during cheese making – and as a result the farmers receive less money
SCIENCE SPIN CHOOSING SCIENCE
for it. While they get a bonus for supplying milk with less than 200,000 cells/ml from uninfected cows, they are penalised for milk with 400,000 cells/ml or more. The problem is that their fathers, like any other farmers, do not know in advance the somatic cell content of their milk, unless they send it to have it analysed in a lab. “But this takes 4 to 5 days and costs €1.50 per liter”, said John, which is a lot given the quantities involved. This means the farmers cannot trace the milk back to the infected cow and treat it, so they keep losing money.
Granny’s saying
So what would you have done if you were John and Liam? You would need to start with an idea as to measure in a simple way the desired parameter i.e. the somatic cell content of milk; then test this idea and see if it works. The idea came from Liam’s grandmother. Liam explained how she used to mention washing-up liquid as a means to assess milk quality. “But this was just a saying”, he said; “nobody knew for sure if and how it would
work because nobody had tested it”. So the two boys set about testing Granny’s saying. They spent one year experimenting with saucers, spoons and washing-up liquid on their kitchen table. Nobody helped them, except their mothers who washed up the mess. Liam and John soon noticed that when they mixed a fresh sample of milk (for example 20ml) with a small amount of detergent (let’s say 1ml), sometimes the solution would become more viscous. And interestingly, the more somatic cells present in the milk, the more viscous it became. Clearly there was a link there, but if it was to be of any use they had to quantify it precisely to come up with a precise number of cells/ml. They needed to find a way to measure the viscosity of the obtained mixture.
Zahn cup
They tried many different options, not fully satisfied with any, they finally found their answer from housepainters. Housepainters use a device called a Zahn cup to measure the viscosity of paint. A Zahn cup is commonly a stainless steel cup with a tiny hole drilled in the center of the bottom of the cup. To determine the viscosity of a substance (e.g. paint),
Vein Imaging
There were other winning projects offering, like the Irish one, practical solutions to well-known problems. Steffen Strobel from Germany won a third prize for inventing a very useful device for doctors and nurses. The problem he tackled can be very unpleasant: a doctor or nurse wants to give an injection, but cannot find the vein and has to make several attempts. “This is actually my own experience. I once went to the doctor for an injection and he had to make painful attempts
the cup must be completely filled with the liquid, and what is measured is the time the liquid takes to break up as it streams out (“efflux time”). The two boys talked about this technique with scientists, who gave them a few hints about fluid kinetics and laws of capillarity. Liam and John then adapted the Zahn cup principle and came up with a simple apparatus perfectly adapted to their need. Basically the time that the milk/ detergent mixture takes to get through the device (also a cup with a hole, prolonged with a short tube) is directly proportional to its viscosity. From there they just needed to calibrate the system with a number of milk samples containing a range
of known somatic cell content. They obtained a curve giving the somatic cell content as a function to the efflux time of the milk sample. This very simple test allows the farmer to determine if their milk is infected (400,000 cells/ml or more) and then treat the infected cow with antibiotics. John and Liam were awarded the first prize of €7,000 each. Asked what they would do with their money, John’s reply was straight forward: “I will buy a laptop, I’ve been wanting a laptop for a very long time.” But the best reward is surely knowing that this apparatus is a marketable product which will be of tremendous commercial help to farmers.
to find my vein”, Steffen said. “That’s where I got the idea.” The idea is an infrared camera connected to a PC capable of “looking under the skin” and making veins visible in real time. In order to make this possible, the young researcher combined a self-assembled infrared camera with sophisticated software. He started by building a smaller prototype with what he had on board, before moving to a more sophisticated device and tuning the software with impressive methods. The software now removes the background,
increases the contrast to make the main veins visible to the human eyes. The wavelength was adjusted to meet depth requirement (the longer the wavelength, the deeper the penetration). “Up to now nothing very efficient existed to visualize veins,” Steffen said; “existing devices would require the injection of a substance to stain the veins, or they would cover very small areas”, he explained. “With this device you can visualize a much bigger area, and pinpoint the most significant veins.”
SCIENCE SPIN CHOOSING SCIENCE
engineer and construct such a vehicle”, she concluded enthusiastically. Anna Shvetsova worked on her idea from home with no help from anybody. Her project won the European Space Agency award.
Venus explorer
While the medical area was one of the most popular among the young scientists, cosmology also seemed to attract lots of interest. One of the successful projects in this area was conducted by a 17 year-old Russian girl whose dream is to explore Venus, one of the less hospitable planets of the solar system. In her abstract, Anna Shvetsova very simply explained how it all started: “I chose the theme of “Developing of alternative ways of movement of autonomous lowered vehicle on Venus” for my project because people have always wanted to fly to the stars. I also became interested in Venus. I designed the device. I chose the type of movement, the cooling installation, the material, the engine, and the equipment for carrying out the research. You think it is difficult, don’t you? No difficulties! Everything ingenious is simple!” And talking to her you feel almost convinced. According to Anna, not one of the planet explorers so far designed is completely satisfactory. “Engines with wheels get stuck in the sand, caterpillars are heavy and need a lot of energy to move, walking devices can turn over,” she explained. She got the idea of an alternative movement from an article she read on the internet. It is called Tolchin’s Inertioid. Then she designed a variant using her Grand-Pa’s clock mechanism as a prototype. It is made of two cylinders which when rotating make the device go forward with little hops. She also had to find out all the proper parameters for the designed purpose. “Conditions on Venus are extreme in terms of pressure (more than 100 atmospheres) and temperature (up to 500°C). The material I selected is Refsic – it consists of silicates and strong carcass of silicone carbide – it should be able to resist the heat and I also needed to take on board a cooling system for the
Flying from there
Anna Shvetsova from Russia would like to explore Venus. electronics”, she said. Lab material to enable experiments in space including photos, video, atmosphere analysis etc, were also to be taken on board and resist the planet’s harsh surface conditions. Finally she had to select an engine with the right power for moving such a vehicle. She evaluated that the required capacity would be around 1kW and found an electric engine meeting this requirement, weighing 9kg with a 79% efficiency. “This vehicle is simple, cheap, and capable of doing research; it won’t get stuck so easily”, Anna said. She is not just making a wishful guess; she actually did experiments with her prototype and it seemed to move the way she expected. “Up to now we have only spent a maximum of 24 hours on Venus; but the Americans want to extend the length of stay to 50 days,” Anna explained. She thinks Venus could hide life because its atmosphere contains CO, hydrogen sulphide and sulphurous anhydride (they should react but they don’t). “I like stars, I have always wanted to find life on another planet and I wanted to build something”, she continued. “So I would like to be an
There would be many more interesting stories to tell here, including the story of another first prize winner, Fabian Gafner from Switzerland. Fabian’s project was neither medical nor cosmological, but very much an applied project addressing a number of technical and physical challenges. It aimed to answer a rather provoking and visionary question: Would it be possible for an airborne aeroplane to stop and fly backwards? Fabian analysed which modifications are necessary for a plane to be able to fly forwards as well as backwards. But we have to stop somewhere, and this could be a story for another article. In any case, for many of these young talents the adventure has just begun. Some of the previous projects have led to scientific breakthroughs or to the creation of new businesses. Let’s keep our fingers on the pulse of European science of tomorrow – starting with our Irish winners. Liam Mc Carthy and John D. O’Callaghan have also won an honorary award that will allow them to take part in the London International Youth Science Forum 2010 — an annual two-week intensive summer science festival where they will be able to meet young scientists from around the world. We may not have finished hearing from them. The aim of the European Union Contest for Young Scientists is to encourage young people who have an interest in science and embark on scientific careers. The contestants, all aged between 14 and 20 were coming from 38 countries across Europe as well as Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the USA.
bbbbbb More information about the EU Contest for Young Scientists, including photos, success stories, biographical details of the jury and descriptions of all entries can be found at:. http://ec.europa.eu/research/youngscientists/index_en.cfm IVE L K LIN
SCIENCE SPIN CHOOSING SCIENCE
Renewable energy, nanotechnology, space technology, computer animation and game development: A career for you? MyScienceCareer.ie is a new website which aims to provide resources for students, career guidance counsellors, teachers, parents and people of all ages who are interested in finding out more about a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Check out career profiles written by young professionals from all areas of science, along with useful resources such as video interviews, for some valuable insights into a career in science. Find out the difference between various sciencerelated jobs, what subjects you would need to study, what a typical day involves and what other areas could be open to you in the future by pursuing a career in STEM. Use the Resources section to direct you to some important websites that will help you to get more information on what colleges to consider, what points you may need and what options are open to you. Read about Ireland’s rich scientific history and famous Irish scientists of the past, as well as finding out more about our brightest Science Ambassadors of today.
www.MyScienceCareer.ie
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is an initiative of the national integrated awareness programme Discover Science & Engineering.
WoodWisdom-Net 2 Research programme driving renewal of European forest based industry
LIVE LINK www.woodwisdom.net
he WoodWisdom-Net Research Programme is one of the European Commission’s ERA-NET Schemes which aim to develop and strengthen the coordination of national or regional public research programmes. The ERA-NET scheme encourages the development and implementation of joint programmes or activities to reduce the fragmentation of the European Research Area (ERA) by improving the coherence and coordination of national and regional research programmes carried out in the EU Member States or Associated countries. The first ERA-NET on wood material science and engineering, WoodWisdom-Net, started in 2004 and launched its first Joint Call for proposals in 2006. Today, 17 trans national research projects (over €20 M) are being funded for the period 2008 to 2010 in the themes: • FIBRES - Wood Fibre Properties and Processing • WOOD - Wood Materials and Engineering • FORESTRY - Wood Resources and Logistics WoodWisdom-Net 2 aims at further development of the WoodWisdom-Net Research Programme by involving new partner countries. It is a network of 19 national funding organizations from 12 countries that have joined forces to encourage researchers in transnational cooperation for innovative projects in forest-based value chains. The transnational programme will be further developed with the second Joint Call. The call opened on 11 November 2009 and closes on 23 February 2010. Funding of up to 15 million Euros is available for research and development projects for a maximum of three years. Individual project partners seek funding from their national funding
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agencies in accordance with the call and relevant national funding rules. The added value is the opportunity to easily access international know-how, to gain technology and market expertise and to integrate into international value chains. The second Joint Call “Sustainable, competitive processing and end-use concepts for forest-based industries” focuses on applied research and development projects conducted by consortia of researchers and industry (small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) or large companies). Proposals for collaborative transnational projects on applied research or industrial research and development are welcome. Themes and topics of the call have been defined by the national funding organisations together with industry, based on strategic priorities described in the Strategic Research Agenda and National Research Agendas of the Forest-based Sector Technology Platform (FTP). Total public funding of ca. €10 M will be jointly provided during 2010-2013 by 11 national funding organisations from Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Turkey. The second Call, launched during the WoodWisdom-Net Seminar on 11 November 2009 in Stockholm, is seeking proposals for collaborative transnational projects on applied research or industrial research and development on the following topics:
• Improving the performance of energy and resource efficient timber construction with new concepts, tools and processes to enhance total building performance (e.g. acoustics, serviceability, indoor climate) • Creating new business opportunities through innovative wood and fibre-based products and composites. • Utilising forest-based feedstocks through sustainable forest-based chemicals and small scale biorefinery concepts and processes (e.g. substitution of non-renewable resources, new application areas in value added processes) • Increasing the competitiveness of the forest-based value chain by strategic technology renewal, new business strategies and production systems (e.g. advanced technologies for primary and value-added wood processing, reduction of resource and energy consumption) • Optimising end-of-life of wood based products considering their total life cycle (e.g. reuse and recycling, quality assurance, business concepts and societal issues) Consortia of industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and research organisations including partners from at least three different countries, two of which must be from the list of participating countries, are eligible to participate. Each consortium must include at least one industry partner (SME or large enterprise) and at least one research partner (university or other research institute) from the list of participating countries. Partners from third countries can be included if they finance their activity from other sources and if project results will benefit WoodWisdom-Net partner countries. Funding for Irish involvement will be available, through COFORD, for Irish researchers participating in consortia with successful proposals, providing that the topics meet the national research priorities. A third Joint Call will take place in 2010.
More information: • WoodWisdom-Net Research Programme at www.woodwisdom.net • Call 2009 at website www.call2009.woodwisdom.net. • COFORD (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) is the Irish funding organisation participating in the call. For more information contact Alistair Pfeifer, email: alistair.pfeifer@agriculture.gov.ie.
SCIENCE SPIN Issue 38 Page 37
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Ten glorious years at sea
The RV Celtic Explorer, owned by the Marine Institute, is Ireland’s state-of-theart deep sea research vessel.
Marine surveying has revealed a whole new territory, nine times larger than Ireland’s land area. Seán Duke reports, that the lid has been lifted on an offshore treasure trove.
Coverage achieved by LIDAR in South Galway Bay. LIDAR is an airborne depth-sounding technique which is particularly useful in shallow, clear waters.
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e live on a tiny island, situated off the west coast of Europe with a landmass of just 70,273 square km (Republic). That’s a bit smaller than the US state of South Carolina, and a bit larger than the state of West Virginia. Ours is not a nation blessed with rich deposits of coal, oil, or diamonds, for example. We all know we lack natural resources. But, wait. Is that a flawed perception? Recently, the 10th anniversary of the start of large scale marine surveying in Ireland was celebrated at the Seabed 10 Conference in Dublin. Listening to the presentations of the various researchers involved a remarkable decade of survey work, it is clear that Ireland’s mysterious offshore is finally revealing its treasures. Since modern marine surveying began in the Irish offshore in 2000, a comprehensive picture of the Irish seabed has been built up, revealing huge valleys, canyons and rocky outcrops on our seafloor. The scale of the work has been enormous, given that Ireland’s territorial seabed stretches out more than 700 miles from the west coast, or more than half way to Iceland. A total of 13 survey ships, many of them international ships, together with some aeroplanes, have been involved in a ‘big science’ project that is impressive given that it has been carried out by a small island nation of just four million people. The last ten years has seen Ireland propelled to the top of the great marine surveying nations.
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A deep-water coral, Desmophyllum, located in Irish waters, west of the Porcupine Bank, at a depth of 1100 metres. be tapped at the bottom of deep, treacherous waters off our western shores. As technology advances and it becomes harder to find oil in less treacherous locations, this oil and gas, if there, might yet make us rich. We also now know that large ‘cold water coral fields’ flourish in our waters, and we also understand that our offshore is home to lots of previously unknown life forms. Some of these new species could perhaps be ‘mined’ for chemicals that could be used for new drugs, for example, or for
compounds that would be of interest to the cosmetic industry. Commenting on the success of the surveying, Enda Gallagher, spokesperson for the Geological Survey of Ireland said: “A whole new detailed picture of the sea floor is emerging from a combination of state-of-the-art data collection techniques including, multi-beam and side scan sonar measurements, underwater video footage and a variety of sampling operations. The discovery of cold water corals in deep Irish waters and
STAGGERING
The scale of what has been achieved in the last ten years in marine surveying in Ireland is staggering. We went from being a nation that still relied on ancient British Admiralty maps from the 1840s to navigate the waters around us, to a world-leading nation that has employed the most advanced surveying techniques to map a large chunk of its offshore. The Irish offshore is huge. At 652,000 square km, it is about nine times the size of Ireland’s land area, and about the same size as Italy and Germany combined. Until recently, little or nothing was known about our territorial waters, but following the surveying heroics of the last decade, we now know a lot more. For example, there is further evidence to support the view that some geologists already had, that substantial oil and gas reserves are waiting to
Deep sea cold water coral, Lophelia, located in Irish waters in the Porcupine Seabight. Image IFREMER.
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The drumlins of Clew Bay, Co Mayo, viewed with the aid of 3D visualisation software. the precise recording of hundreds of shipwrecks are just two fascinating aspects, but the seabed survey geological data is only just beginning to open a whole new world.”
called INFOMAR (Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource) was set up in 2007 to survey bays and near shore areas. Both the INSS and INFOMAR
SURVEYS
Image to the north of the Dingle Peninsula and west of Kerry Head, displaying a sub-sea fault. The seafloor in this biologically sensitive area had not been fully surveyed since the mid 1800s by the British Admiralty, which was at the time under the direction of Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, an Irishman who developed the Beaufort wind scale, still the standard measure of wind and wave sea state.
So, the lid has finally been lifted on the national treasure trove that is our offshore, and we now have the technology and the resources to look inside and see what’s there. This story begins with the birth of the Irish National Seabed Survey (INSS), in 2000, which surveyed our deep waters. The successor to the INSS,
were funded by the National Development Plans, one and two, and the responsibility for the doing the surveys fell to the Marine Institute and the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI). The amount of data collected has been quite awesome. For instance, under the INSS alone, surveyors produced over 300 paper-based charts and some 11 Terabytes of digital information. To get an idea of how much that is, if someone wanted to burn all of this information onto DVD disks, it would require about 2,421 disks to complete the job.
on areas such as renewable energy, shipping navigation, marine leisure, safety at sea, fishing and marine aggregates (sand and gravel deposits that lie offshore close to land).
ECONOMY
The two major surveys, the INSS and INFOMAR represent a considerable investment by the State. However, the economic benefits arising from the work to Ireland will be €275 million, according to a recent report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC). The benefits, if this report is accurate, will be a yield four times the investment in it, with significant advantages to areas such as fishing, energy, and tourism. Of course, if significant oil and gas reserves are found, this figure could be far higher still. The INFOMAR project, begun in 2006, as the INSS was wound down, is expected to run for at least 20 years, and its goal, initially at least, is to focus on producing information that is commercially valuable. The aim here is to complete the mapping of Ireland’s inshore areas – specifically all the remaining areas of our offshore territory not surveyed by the INSS. Initially, the work is focused on 26 ‘priority’ bays and three ‘priority’ areas. These have been selected as priority areas due to their potential to positively impact
l FISHERIES: Data from the INSS are being used in on-board systems to help provide a 3D view of the seafloor and such initiatives will ultimately help fishermen to reduce net loss and to be more environmentally friendly in their fishing practises. l HYDROCARBONS: The INSS has carried out refraction seismic surveys in 2002 and 2004 in a remote frontier area known as the Hatton Basin. The 2002 survey utilised equipment that at depths exceeding 3,000 metres enabled penetration to depths of 35 kms into the seafloor (and the continental crust). These surveys are contributing to the oil and gas exploration effort in this remote area. A second objective of the surveys is to help identify areas of Gas Hydrates. These are essentially areas of solid frozen
FUTURE
Wrecks of two large, and as yet, unidentified, iron barges in the Irish Sea. Wreck of the Manchester Merchant, a British ocean liner sunk in 1903. She was bound from New Orleans to Manchester with a cargo of 13,000 bales of cotton when a fire broke out as she neared Dingle Bay. The crew tried valiantly to save her but failed.
BENEFITS hydrocarbon that may be a fuel of the future. l BETTER MAPS: New data has been provided to the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office who in turn is updating the navigation chart series covering Irish waters. A particular case in point is Clew Bay where, due to its island-strewn character, the INSS decided on an innovative aerial survey. Data from two laser airborne surveys over two years have been released to the UKHO who undertook to update the 100+ year-old navigation chart for the Bay. Meanwhile, 2010 will see a new navigation chart produced for Dublin Bay
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Ireland has achieved great things in marine surveying in this decade, and now, from nowhere, is a world leader in this area. That was unimaginable just ten years ago. The future is bright too, with funds continuing to flow into marine projects. In recent years, the Celtic Explorer research vessel has been commissioned, along with more recently a new robotic submersible, the RV Holland, which is producing dramatic pictures from the Irish offshore – something like the pictures coming back from Mars. These are areas of our own planet where mankind has never had sight of before. It’s our final frontier. In 2009, another research vessel was commissioned, the RV Keary, named after the pioneering geologist, the late Ray Keary. This will survey the nearshore areas, and continue Ireland’s great marine surveying adventure that began back in 2000.
l SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES: We now know that the Irish seabed is home to vast systems of previously unidentified coral reefs, some stretching for as long as 70 miles. Such coral, living at depths of up to 2000 metres, are known as Lophelia – deep-sea, cold-water coral. l SHIPWRECKS: The surveys have identified the precise locations of hundreds of shipwrecks around the Irish coast. Further work on their identification and history is being undertaken by the National Parks & Wildlife Service using the precision location data provided by the INSS/INFOMAR. l EDUCATION: The Leaving Certificate physics syllabus has been linked to the INSS work of the GSI and a module was completed in time for the 2006/07 academic year.
THE IMAGE OF RESEARCH
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n a competition to find the most outstanding research image of 2009, Science Foundation Ireland named Prof Kevin Sullivan and Dr Lisa Prendergast from NUI Galway as winners. Prof Sullivan is Professor of Cell Biology, and Dr Lisa Prendergast is a post doc fellow at NUIG. The image shows a human cell undergoing mitotic division. Normally the cell spindle fibres draw the chromosome strands apart, but in this case the process has been disrupted. Removal of a single protein from the chromosome makes it impossible for the cell to go through all the steps of normal mitosis.
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The object of this research is to identify points of attack for chemotherapeutic treatment of cancers. Disrupting the spindle has already been shown to be effective with drugs such as Taxol and Vinblastine. At Galway the aim is to find less toxic alternatives, or to make the drugs more specific to cancer cells. One of the big problems in chemotherapy is that drugs intended to knock out a tumour can also do a lot of damage to normal cells. Prof Sullivan’s lab at NUIG is one of a group involving more than 80 researchers investigating genetic influences on an array of human diseases such as cancer, neurological and development disorders.
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IN SEARCH OF ZINC The Navan mine is expected to remain in production for at least another decade, and as Tom Kennedy reports Ireland’s stock of high grade zinc and lead ores may be far from exhausted.
iscovering more mineral wealth could help pull Ireland out of the economic depths. Ireland already has the largest zinc lead mine in Europe at Navan, and if prospectors hit lucky, deposits of similar size may yet turn up in the south west. At Kilbricken, Co Clare, high concentrations of lead, zinc and silver have been found, and the old mine workings there are more than likely to get a new lease of life. According to UCD geologist, Julian Menuge, no one knows how much more zinc ore can be discovered in Ireland, but the conditions that led to big mineral deposits at Tynagh, Silvermines and Navan appear to have been repeated right across the country. If we look at the top 55 mineral deposits in Ireland, he said, most are in the Lower Carboniferous limestones in a broad line that extend across the central plain. These rocks were laid down as a shallow ocean advanced over the former Devonian age desert, which in turn had covered the massive cracks and fissures familiar to geologists as the Iapetus Suture. This is one of the most ancient features of this island, formed millions of years
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Above, inside the Boiliden mine at Navan. Below, the most productive mines are clustered along the ancient Iapetus suiture that runs right across Ireland. ago when what is now the southern part of the country drifted up to join the north. That suture extends across Ireland, and the deep cracks along its length allowed extremely hot, mineral rich, fluids to filter up from the depths towards the upper rocks.
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As Julian explained to a recent meeting of the Irish Geological Association, a peculiar chain of events, involving interaction between upper and lower levels, appears to have been responsible for producing these unusually high concentrations of zinc and lead. Although the mineral deposits are at two distinct levels within the Carboniferous limestone both groups are thought to have been formed in much the same way. Like Galmoy, Tynagh and Lisheen, the recent discoveries in the south west are in the upper level, while Navan, at about 350 million years old, is in the lower group. For some time, geologists have speculated on how these deposits came to be there, and while it is taken as a given that the minerals were deposited from hot fluids, opinions have been divided on how and why this happened. One theory is that water filtering down from above heights picked up mineral traces which were then precipitated as hot fluids rose up from the depths to react chemically with the limestone.
The Boiliden mine at Navan, left and above, accounts for over half the known deposits, but the conditions that produced the zinc and lead ores also occured in other parts of Ireland. Photos: Boiliden. It is thought that this model could account for some of the mineral deposits in the United States of America, but something more complex seems to have happened in Ireland. A few years ago, the geologist, Mike Russell, came up with a two fluid model that is now widely accepted as explaining why Ireland has so much zinc and lead. In this model, hot mineralised fluids are believed to have come up from a considerable depth, and on reaching the basement of the limestone, these fluids came into contact with extremely saline water. At that time conditions on the Earth’s surface would have produced oceanic pools of high salinity, and where the two fluids met became a zone of interaction between salt, water and sulphur. As of now, certain forms of bacteria can thrive under these kind of extreme conditions, needing no oxygen, but harvesting energy by reducing sulphates to sulphides. For them, the mineral rich fluids coming up from below were a feast, and as they fed, the sulphates were converted into insoluble deposits that we find now as sulphide minerals such as galena and sphalerite. As Julian explained, one part of the evidence to show what was going on is in the form of tiny bubble-like inclusions. When examined under a microscope, these inclusions are seen to contain a fluid, and above this fluid are vapour bubbles. These inclusions are the remaining traces of mineral rich fluids. Originally, these fluids would have been homoginous, so the vapour bubbles only formed later as the temperature dropped. By heating the inclusions on a microscope stage, the temperature at which the vapour and fluid homogenise, reveals that
the original fluid would have been between 200 to 300°C. The fluid was salty, and as salt lowers the freezing temperature, cooling the inclusions until they freeze gives a good idea of just how salty the original was. Evidence of this kind supports the view that these super heated fluids must have come up against much cooler, and much more saline water filtering down from an evaporating sea. Apart from salt and water, sulphur comes into the equation, and this could have come from above and from below. However, when the isotopes of sulphur in mineral deposits are examined, there
Drill cores from Kilbricken laid out to reveal what lies below. When Belmore Resources drilled at the old silver mine at Kilbricken, Co Clare, they went through a massive 10 metre deep sulphide mineralisation zone at 450 metre depth. The company reported that the 14 per cent zinc and 5.5 per cent lead made this the highest grade ever encountered in Ireland.
is a tell-tale peak of isotope 34. This particular isotope, 34S, is produced by sulphur reducing bacteria. It seems that the bacteria, like those around present day black smokers in the mid Atlantic, thrived next to the source of hot mineralised fluids, for when the ores at Navan were analysed at, it was found that the levels of 34S were highest next to fault zones. It is quite likely that the same sort of interactions were widespread, and while the deposits at Navan represent more than half, the known total in Ireland comes to about 17 million tons of zinc. “If we consider how much may have been produced by the same process,” said Julian, “it could be as much as three times this amount, and if reserves that we do not yet know about are included, this might be as much again.” If this seems amazing, even more so is the fact that zinc and lead could be much more abundant than we usually think. We should not assume that minerals can only occur in concentrated pockets of ore, and as Julian explained, lead and zinc could actually have come from ”any old rock’. In the upper crust, he said, there are 67 parts per million zinc, and 17 parts per million lead. “This might not seem much,” he commented, “but it would be enough to have produced all these deposits. If you were to take 6.3 metres of upper crust and extract the lead and zinc for deposition in the Carboniferous, you would get 50 million tone of zinc and 12 million tons of lead.” Without low life and all those deep and ancient cracks along the Iapetus Suture we might never have been able to recover all these minerals. SPIN
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OUTWARD CALM
INNER TURMOIL
A research group based in Cork is leading the world in detecting potentially harmful seizures in the newborn. Tom Kennedy reports that rapid detection could prevent the development of serious mental problems in later life. e are born helpless. A gasp of air, a cry, and then back to sleep. Nothing apparently to disturb the crinkly face, yet this is a time of extremely rapid internal development. In just a few short hours, as senses begin to tune in to a new and strange environment, connections that will serve us for life, are being laid down. A baby might sense light, but it cannot yet see, sounds do not yet mean anything, and apart from that primaeval cry, there is no expression. Fortunately, that look of peaceful contentment usually shows that all is progressing well, but in an alarming number of cases, the face can turn out to be just a mask. A new born baby can undergo a seizure, lasting up to several hours, without any outward change in expression, and because of this, the most attentive and caring nursing staff may have no reason to suspect that anything has gone wrong. Some babies are more at risk, such as those that have had a difficult birth, but as Dr Geraldine Boylan, who heads
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the Neonatal Brain Research Group at University College Cork, points out, seizures may actually occur in five per cent of all live births. In the vast majority of cases, 85 per cent, no one notices that a seizure is in progress, and as Dr Boylan explains, the failure to intervene quickly can have very serious consequences. The silent injuries occur at a critical time in brain development, and the evidence suggests that many of the mental problems that afflict adults, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy and learning difficulties, originate in undetected seizures that occurred shortly after birth. In Ireland it is known that about 300 babies a year are affected by significant brain injuries, and according to Dr Boylan, the problems caused by unseen seizures could be much higher than we generally assume. “There is a real urgency in addressing this problem,” she remarked, adding that it is something that continues to happen 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Detection of a seizure is not actually all that difficult, at least not in technical terms. With EEG (electroencephalography) monitoring seizures show up immediately as erratic pulses on the graph, but, while this type of supervision is now common in intensive care units, nursing staff in general do not have access to this type of equipment, and even if they had, they would lack the expertise required to interpret the results. “Interpretation of the recordings,” explained Dr Boylan, “requires examination by a neurophysiologist who is also an expert in neonatal EEG analysis.” The EEG pattern of an adult or a child is a lot different from that of a newborn baby. In a baby, patterns change from week to week, so it can take an expert to make sense of the graphs. Such expertise is quite thin on the ground, and, of course, a seizure can occur at any time of the day or night. Fast response is critical, and, again, like detection, intervention does not necessarily require complex or
expensive treatment. Lack of oxygen, often caused by constriction of the blood supply during birth, can cause serious problems, but if these are detected in time, all that may need to be done is to cool the baby down by three degrees Celsius. “This can be done with a cooling cap or jacket,” said Dr Boylan, “but it has to be done within six hours of delivery.” Dr Boylan could see that while solutions to the problems exist, little could be done until the technology becomes easy enough for non-experts to use and cheap enough to deploy everywhere. The Neonatal Unit at Cork University Hospital, with 800 newborns a year, provided the ideal setting to conduct clinical research, but coming up with workable solutions involved combining medical, engineering and software disciplines. Drawing the right kind experts together was not that difficult, and not just because the objectives were so obviously worthwhile. As Dr Boylan observed, one of the advantages that Ireland has over many other countries is that different specialists are quite happy to work together as a team. In 2003 this team began working as the multidisciplinary Neonatal Brain Research Group, and their progress since then has been spectacular. One of the basic problems they faced concerned interpretation, and on this it became clear that two significant improvements could be made. The EEG equipment itself could be simplified, and instead of trying to upgrade interpretative skills in neonatal units, the graphs could be transmitted directly to the expert. “Several intensive units could share access to the one diagnostic service,” said Dr Boylan. However, high bandwidth links between hospitals could only go so far in supporting this
exchange, so the group is now working with Jan Morrison in Computer Science and the Boole Centre for Research in Informatics to develop a system that would allow patient data to be streamed from the bedside to a remote expert. Another improvement that the group made was to slim down the data, so that the essential pattern could be picked out instantly by intelligent software. “Being able to see a pattern is something that people only get with experience,” said Dr Boylan, so her first Science Foundation Grant in 2006 went towards working with Dr Liam Marnane at UCC’s Electrical Engineering Department on developing an algorithm to automatically detect seizures. Not an easy task, for, until this research got underway, there was not enough known on how babies with problems compared to normal patterns, or indeed how signals could be related to associated factors, such as heartbeat. Looking at normal patterns is important. “You can’t interpret abnormal signs without knowing what the normal ones are like,” said Dr Boylan. The full 12 channel EEG, said Dr Boylan, produces a fairly complex pattern. “We needed to factor in other things that might give us a better idea of what was going on.” Dr Boylan said that this research has produced excellent results in filtering out all the unwanted false signals, such as those produced by crying or physical movements. “We have a really good algorithm now,” she remarked. Ease of use is essential, and a compact low cost cotside monitor has now been produced that will, undoubtedly, bring about an enormous improvement in the care of the newborn throughout the world. “Currently this detects 93 per cent of all seizures,” said Dr Boylan, a
huge advance on the 53 per cent possible until then using more limited technology. The group has attracted a lot of support, an industry partner is planning to launch the monitor onto the world market, and a European project is underway to evaluate its performance. In this project the slimmed down monitors are being operated in parallel with full EEG In many ways the beneficial spin offs from this research are likely to continue, and in the most recent development, Dr Boylan began leading a European wide project to look at the drugs being used to treat seizures in the newborn. The drugs in current use have not changed in half a century, and with medicines in general, clinical trials usually only involve adults. Better EEG monitoring means that the impact of drugs on young babies can be assessed properly and with greater accuracy, and new possibilities explored. One such candidate is a drug called Bumetanide, widely used over the past thirty years as a diuretic in adults and children. Recent research, said Dr Boylan, suggests that this drug could be effective in treatment of seizures in newborn babies. However, up to now, ethical considerations ruled out the use of such potentially effective drugs because clinical studies had not been conducted. Because of the advances in EEG monitoring, brought about by the UCC Neonatal Brain Research Group, scientists now have the means to assess the safety and effectiveness of existing and new treatments. To find out more visit the Neonatal Brain Research Group website: http://www.ucc.ie/en/neonatalbrain/ LIVEK LIN
SPIN
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AROUND THE RING The Iveragh Peninsula
he Iveragh Peninsula in Kerry has a lot to offer, but back in the 16th century, when Cromwellian soldiers were being paid off with land, the surveyor, William Petty, was inclined to play down the benefits. The fact that so many ex-soldiers gave up their seized holdings undoubtedly helped Petty to amass a quarter of a million acres in South Kerry, land that eventually became the Lansdowne Estate. How Petty managed to take over so much land is one of the chapters in this comprehensive book describing just about every aspect of the Iveragh Peninsula, from how it was raised up from the desert edge of a Devonian shore to what sort of people came to live there. Petty, although one of the most interesting characters in Irish history, was certainly not the first to arrive, and, as some legends have it, Skelling Michael was the final resting place for Ír, son of Milesius, who had been killed as an unwelcome invader from the south by the Tuatha Dé Danann. Right from the beginning ,invasions of one sort or another have been part of Iveragh’s history, and if we go back far enough, we can even look upon a trail of steps left in Valentia slate by the world’s first four footed animal known to have crawled up onto land. The people who arrived a long time later also left their marks, and the Iveragh Peninsula is packed with prehistoric sites. Ring forts, standing stones, and twenty megalithic tombs, and all, it
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seems, built by the southern seafarers who became the Irish. We can see the forts, but in many other ways a lot of this ancient culture has survived in the Iveragh Peninsula. About fifty pages of this book are devoted to exploring the music, the folklore and the inherited traditions of Iveragh. More than likely, the songs recorded from the ninety-four year old Padraig Ó Beaglaoich of Killorglin in 1959, like many others, would not have sounded all that strange to the ears of several generations before. On language, Seán Mac an tSíthigh, in his section of the book, notes that in 1851 almost 90 per cent of the Iveragh population spoke Irish. The spoken culture, he writes, managed to survive undiluted throughout most of the peninsula until well into the 17th century, but the collapse, when it came was abrupt. Seán gives a telling quote, in which a farmer, growing up in the 1880s risked a beating if caught speaking Irish at school. Spoken Irish on Inveragh, observes Seán, “has been reduced to a few small pickets in its western extremities.” A strange end for people who would have been familiar with two or three languages. Seán Mac an tSíthigh notes how visitors from Spain in the 16th century were struck by the number of people who had a proficiency in Spanish.
Ring forts, such as Staigue, are a connection to the ancient past. Photo: Con Brogan.
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The old connection between Iveragh and the south was probably never really broken, and when Daniel O’Connel’s father, who was a merchant living at Carhan, close to Cahersiveen, was referred to as a smuggler, his ‘crime’ is likely to have been illegal trading with Spain. The stand off between locals and the usurpers was a constant feature of life, and in another section of the book, William J Smith describes how surveying and mapping had a significant role in changing attitudes to land. The view, for owners at least, became blatently materialistic, and the people who worked the land became, in effect, nothing more than property. It seems hard to believe that in the 19th century tenants on the Lansdowne estate had to get the landlord’s permission to marry. In his section on the Lansdowne Estate, Gerard J Lyne describes how in the 1850s the agent, ‘Master Towney’ fined and evicted tenants who broke the marriage rule. Understandably, this kind of arrogance led to trouble, and in Iveragh, Leo O’Shea describes how Donncha ‘cable’ O’Leary is remembered for his stand against eviction. When the sheriff, bailiffs and constabulary arrived at his slated house on 10th January 1887, Donncha resisted the wreckers as a crowd gathered to cheer him on. Unlike many other evictions taking place in the area, this barbaric scene was photographed, and there is a striking picture of Donncha, as he stands for the camera, blood-stained and bandaged after emerging from his house. Donncha’s stand marked a turning point, and the population around Ballinskelligs celebrated with a brass band procession. Donncha had earned his nickname while working for the Transatlantic Cable Company, for at that time, the first links were being made with America. The Iveragh
Peninsula’s position, as one of the most westerly points of Europe, made it the ideal starting point, and Donncha, as one of the local recruits, became known as ‘cable” when he took a dive to recover an end that had fallen overboard. As Denis Linehan in his section writes, by the end of the 19th century there were six transatlantic cables running out from stations at Valentia, Ballinskellings, and Waterville. By 1900 there were more than 40 telegraphers at work handling 3,000 messages a day. Transmitting messages was expensive, and when the New York Herald received the King of Prussia’s 1,000 word speech in 1871, they were presented with a bill for $5,083. Competition eventually brought these costs down to about a shilling a word, and business boomed to such an extent that a housing estate with running water, tennis courts and all the other mod cons was built at Waterville. In a way it was strange that Iveragh, noted for its splendid isolation, would become next stop to America, and not just for transatlantic cables. Years before the telegraph, Valentia had
The most westerly railway of Europe was to be the link to America.
and it was not until 1893 that Valentia could lay claim to being the most westerly railway station in Europe. Like so many other branch lines, this one got the chop in the 1960s, and while the tracks are gone, lifted in 1962, the tunnels and bridges ar least were allowed to remain as features of the Inveragh landscape. As with The Hook Peninsula,, Atlas of Cork City, and Wexford, a town and its landscape, Cork University Publishing has to be congratulated yet again for producing another impressive treasure chest of local information. Tom Kennedy
The Derrynane Horn, a 2,500 year old instrument from the Iveragh Peninsula. Photo: National Museum of Ireland. been marked down as a potential steam packet port, and Colin Rynne described how by 1825 there was already an Act of Parliament in place for a mail boat service to Halifax, and ten years later plans were made for a rail link back to Dublin. However, for many years the plans gathered dust,
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Web: www.gsi.ie Email: gsisales@gsi.ie
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The Iveragh Peninsula: a cultural atlas of the Ring of Kerry. Editors, John Croswley and John Sheehan. Cork University Press. Hardback, 512 pp, €59
SPEAKING SCIENCE
COMMUNICATIONS TRAINING FOR 4th LEVEL & POST-DOCS AUDIENCE 4TH LEVEL STUDENTS, MSc, PhD CANDIDATES and POST-DOCS
PRESENTER SEÁN DUKE CO-FOUNDER AND JOINT EDITOR OF SCIENCE SPIN MAGAZINE Seán has 15 years experience as a science writer and editor. In addition to his role as an editor with Science Spin, Seán presents Ireland’s only regular TV science slot on Ireland AM, the TV3 breakfast morning show. He also is the creator and presenter of Ireland’s only weekly radio science slot on 103.2 Dublin City FM. Seán founded the Speaking Science initiative in 2008, in response to the need for scientists to develop better communication skills. To find out more about Seán visit: Web: http://sciencespin.com Blog: http://seanduke.wordpress.com Pod: http://sciencespin.podomatic.com
CONTENT This one-day module is divided into five parts, each of which is aimed at helping 4th level students and post-docs develop the practical, ‘real world’ communication skills they require now, and for their future careers. The emphasis at all times is on interaction, discussion and activities. PART ONE: WHY COMMUNICATE? The reasons why scientists in Ireland today need to communicate are discussed, and the communication needs of each student are explored. In this part, we also introduce ourselves, and get to known each other better. PART TWO: AVOIDING SCIENCE JARGON One of the major barriers facing scientists in the bid to become better communicators is the issue of scientific jargon. This is tackled here. The goal is to ‘retrain’ everyone to unlearn jargon and use English. PART THREE: SCIENTIFIC WRITING SKILLS 4th level students and post-docs often state that they don’t like writing, are not good at it, and, thus, put writing jobs on the ‘long finger’. Here some rules and tips for good writing are explained, and then put into practice. PART FOUR: ORAL SKILLS It is absolutely essential for any scientist that wishes to have a successful career to be a good oral communicator. There are a number of elements that make for successful oral communication, and we detail those here, and put the techniques into practice. PART FIVE: OUTREACH More and more these days, scientists are asked to do ‘outreach’ projects, which means, for example, interacting with a lay audience, made up of all ages. It is critical to know how to tailor presentations, or conduct university tours, so that the audience, whether very young or old, can get the most out of it. HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE? In order to make a booking, or to get further details, please contact, Alan Doherty, Business Development Manager, Speaking Science, at:
alan@sciencespin.com or call: 01 284 2909.
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IntrIgued? FInd Out tHe AnSWer tO tHIS And lOtS OF OtHer SPOrtS SCIenCe QueStIOnS At tHe:
BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition If you’re interested in the science behind sport, then make sure you visit the Discover Sport stand at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, 14 -16 January at the RDS, Dublin. Packed with interactive exhibitions, workshops and seminars, it’s your chance to get a true
insight into the science behind sports such as Formula 1, golf, athletics and many more. So make a date in your diary today and fuel your passion for sports science.