CONGRATULATIONS to Gerard McCarthy who has been appointed as the co chair of new initiative which has been launched to provide an updated climate assessment of the Atlantic Ocean’s circulation system. He will work along side leading researchers from nine European countries and Canada are collaborating to evaluate the probability and potential consequences of a disruption to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), along with co-chair Prof Hans Otto Pörtner of the German-based Alfred Wegener Institute. The study will examine its impact on climate systems, ecosystems, human populations, and the global economy.
Gerard McCarthy and Guillaume Hug attended the iCRAG summit in Athlone where they had the opportunity to catch up with colleagues and discuss future ideas and ongoing projects.
Gerard McCarthy has successfully been funded under the Arqus alliance in collaboration with University of Padua and University of Graz for a project entitled ‘“Improving confidence in future projections of Atlantic circulation” Congratulations!!
We would like to introduce our masters summer masters students and research assistance for this year:
My name is Emma Hermes currently completing my Bachelor’s degree in English and Geography as part of a two-subject (Zwei-Fach) Bachelor’s program at the University of Münster in Germany. I will be visiting the ICARUS Oceans group on a three-month internship during the summer. During this time, I’ll be working on a project looking at the impact of different weather systems on storm surges, which will form the basis of my Bachelor’s thesis.
My name is Jittrarast, and I am studying for an MSc in Climate Change. During my undergraduate studies, I developed an interest in Geomorphology, Remote Sensing, Climatology, and Oceanography where I completed my thesis ‘identifying the origin of the palaeoglacial features that dominated the Irish landscape, specifically whether they were related to the Midlandia ice sheet or the Irish Sea Ice Stream. During my final year, Dr Gerard was invited to our class, where he spoke about his work on AMOC sparking my interest so I decided to pursue a masters thesis on the AMOC and have been in the world of AMOC literature since Christmas (still loads to read). I enjoy travelling, and my dream is to visit all 50 states of the US (so far I’ve visited 2 states) by motorhome with my family. I hope to drive along the iconic Route 66 and stop in Montana, then travel to Yukon and Nunavut (an impassable route, but we shall see), as that is my ultimate travel dream.
Lionel Swan – I am currently researching the Changing Risk of Tropical Cyclones in the South West Indian Ocean and Madagascar Region for my MSc Climate Change Thesis, supervised by Dr. Samantha Hallam. I will be starting a PhD in ICARUS titled “Extreme Weather Attribution for Ireland – Assessing the Role of Anthropogenic Climate Change on Recent Weather Extremes” with Prof Peter Thorne in September.
Hi! My name is Hannah Shen, I’ve just finished the second year of my undergraduate arts degree. I major in Anthropology and minor in Geography. I’m planning on doing my undergraduate dissertation focused on pet death for my final year. I hope to do a masters in the future, but I’m currently still trying to figure out which one I want to do. I’m once again working as a research assistant in ICARUS, this time on a new map for traditional Sean-Nós dancing. For my spare time, I like to play board games, card games and drawing.
Six of the team recently participated in a team building experiences at Escape boats in Dublin. For may of us this was our first time in an escape room. It was great fun and we stuck to the nautical theme of the groups and escaped in 39 minutes. GO US!!
Ashly recently had the opportunity to travel to Denmark to visit her supervisor, André Düsterhus, who relocated there during the second year of her PhD. The visit was both productive and refreshing. She spent time at the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), where she had the chance to present and discuss my research with the wave modeling group. It was a valuable experience to engage in discussions with experts in the field and to learn about the diverse range of work being carried out at the institute.Visiting a research institute like DMI gave Ashly a new perspective on how research is conducted outside the universities. It was inspiring to see how large-scale scientific work is organized and carried out in a professional environment. Beyond the academic exchange, the trip also provided a much-needed change of scenery. She took some time for sightseeing and enjoyed exploring a new country. The experience was especially meaningful as it came during the final stage of her PhD, offering a welcome break and a boost of motivation. Overall, the visit was both intellectually enriching and personally rejuvenating.
Patrick McLoughlin and Gerard McCarthy attended the Mary Robinson conference in May 2025 where Gerard gave a key note speech . Patrick found the conference to be both engaging and thought-provoking, featuring a wide range of speakers — from climate activists to a Marxist scholar who spoke about equitable resource sharing as a foundation for a more just and sustainable society. While it wasn’t the usual academic audience, the diversity of perspectives made it a really interesting event. following on from this Patrick and Gerard went on a field trip to revisit historic tide gauge Benchmarks/datums in the west and north of Ireland, dating back to the first Ordnance Survey in 1842. It was a fascinating opportunity to reconnect with the roots of sea-level measurement in Ireland.
Members (Gerard McCarthy, Samantha Hallam, Catherine O’Beirne, Emmanuel Eresanya) of the ObsSea4Clim project participated in a Clustering Event 1: BioEcoOcean and ObsSea4Clim, as well as the ObsSea4Clim Annual General Meeting. The events were hosted by the Polish Institute of Oceanography in Sopot, Poland, on the 11th to 13th of March. At this event both oral and poster presentations were delivered covering a wide area of topics. These topics included the regionalisation of sea surface temperatures (SST) along the Irish coast, the use of SST as an indicator in fishing and aquaculture, and projections for the future state of the Irish-Nordic-Arctic sea under various global warming conditions.
The TOPIM project was a finalist in the ‘Best Research Project’ category at the Irish Education Awards 2025- Well done Sam for all your hard work!!
Guillaume has been chosen as one of 20 early career scientists to join the OceanCapX cruise aboard the RV Polarstern. The 2025 North South Atlantic Training Transect (NoSoAT) expedition, running from November 13th to December 12th, will journey from Bremerhaven, Germany, to Walvis Bay, Namibia. This incredible opportunity will immerse participants in the principles of oceanography and their profound impacts on climate. On board, Guillaume will participate in hands-on exercises, using and operating state-of-the-art scientific equipment such as XBT and Rosette Sampler with CTD sensors. The program includes practical research techniques, lectures and exercises on oceanography and its impact on climate. Participants will also gain experience in sample processing and data analysis as well as satellite data acquisition and analysis. This trip promises to be a pivotal experience in advancing oceanographic research and understanding.
Samantha Hallam gave a talk, “TOPIM – Modelling hurricane Intensity in the Caribbean” as part of the Hurricane Committee Ocean Panel. The session in El Salvador was attended by 60 participants of the hurricane Committee.
Multiple members of the team attended and presented at the 8th Irish Sea level Conference in Maynooth University
3 scientists from ICARUS Oceanography attended the EGU conference in Vienna at the end of April 2025. Samantha Hallam presenting the TOPIM project on predicting hurricane intensity in the Caribbean, Emmanuel Eresanya presenting work on the Future ISLA project on dynamic sea level rise and Ashly Uthaman presenting her work on wave modelling. Read more in the ICARUS blog
Kirsty Morris Participated in a work shop on the mussel industry in Irish waters talking to both scientists and stakeholders and presented her work on the impact of sea surface temperatures on mussel health in Irish waters.
Gerard McCarthy featured on Newstalk’s Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea talking about the the AMOC and the future .
Samantha Hallam participated in the Caribbean Coastal Conference in Jamaica as well as the Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Managementduring the month of December discussing the TOPIM model for hurricane predictions.Brilliant work
Guillaume Hug participated in a podcast interview for demystified about his work on the AMOC.
Gerard McCarthy was featured in Episode one of RTE new documentary series Ireland’s Coast. In his segment ( min 38) he explains sea level rise in Ireland
On October 20th 2024 ICARUS Oceans held a team building event, attended by the group as well as family and friend. much fun was had playing games and sharing food together.
Congratulations to Samantha Hallam for being recognised for her work on tropical storms and whom was involved with media interviews on the subject of Hurricane Milton during the week.these were aired on Morning live and RTE prime time News (ten min in).
Sam Hallam was involved in running a Tropical Cyclone workshop in Jamaica on 23rd July promoting the launch of TOPIM model. With over 50 attendees it was a great success.
On June 11th we held a meet up event to welcome the summer research assistant and allow all other members of the group to meet up and have a social chat. this was a highly successful and enjoyable event. Thanks to all. Below we Introduce the new summer research assistants and their projects
My name is Lionel Swan I have just finished my 4th and final year of undergrade in Maynooth University studying Biological and Geographical Sciences. I hope to graduate later this year with a 1:1 and plan to do a Masters in Climate Change, also at Maynooth University. I am currently a Research Assistant in ICARUS under Dr Gerard McCarthy and PhD student Patrick Mc Loughlin, with the goal of digitising and analysing old tidal records from the south-west of Ireland in order to increase our understanding of Irelands historical sea-level rise.
I’ve just finished my first year in my undergraduate degree in geography, criminology, and anthropology and am currently undertaking a research assistant position in ICARUS working on mapping GAA sports in Ireland. I also enjoy playing board games, card games and drawing in my spare time.
Hi my name is Amelia Carroll. I have just finished my first year as an undergraduate studying geography and I am working as research assistant for ICARUS. My main focus is mapping GAA wins specifically football across Ireland. I have always had a love of sport from a young age so being able to research something I’m passionate about has been amazing.
John Grant is a Research Assistant at ICARUS (Irish Climate Research and Analysis Unit) in the Department of Geography at Maynooth University. He has graduated in Bachelor of Biological and Geographical sciences (MH203) in 2024. John is currently researching the correlation of air quality in Irish towns in relation to mortality notices
Patrick has had his first Paper accepted for publication!! Congratulations Patrick.
Samuel Diabate and Catherine O’Beirne have both successfully defended their thesis. Congratulations Drs!!!
Happy International Womens day. Over the last 13 months ICARUS Oceans group has gone from strength to strength from a female perspective. Dr Kirsty Morris the first Post-doctoral Researcher in Marine Biology has joined the group. DR Samantha Hallam has brough in new funding as the Co-PI on the €150k TOPIM project, developing a tropical cyclone ocean coupled potential intensity model for the Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In addition Catherine O’Beirne has just submitted her thesis and is preparing papers for publication and Ashly Kataylin Uthaman is in her final year of her PhD as well as preparing to go to sea. It is wonderful to have such a strong woman’s presence throughout the ICARUS Oceans group. To read more on their careers and more individuals from the larger ICARUS group see here
Emmanuel and Gerard have been successful in securing Maynooth University as the only Irish partner for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) Program “Ocean to Climate Seamless Forecasting System (OSF)“. The Goal of this programme is to improve forecasting capability for the ocean and climate.
Catherine O’Beirne and Samuel Diabate have successfully submitted their PhD thesis on Feb 29th 2024. Congratulations!!
Members of the team will be attending and presenting at a variety of conferences this year including AGU Ocean Sciences, New Orleans 2024 EGU Vienna 2024, ObsSea4Clim kick off meeting, Copenhagen March 2024 and IGC Dublin 2024, Sea Level meeting, Trinity College June 2024
The First Irish AMOC meeting was held in Maynooth University hosted by Gerard McCarthy in January 2024
Maeve Upton and Amin Shoarinejad both completed their PhD defence during 2023
Emmanuel attended the UN Decade Collaborative Center on Ocean-Climate Nexus and Coordination Amongst Decade Implementing Partners in P. R. China in September 2023.
The 6th Annual Irish Sea Level meeting was held in Maynooth University hosted by members of the team in June 2023
Guillaume Hug will be participating in a summer school this year in Trieste as well an Education and Public Engagement course (with ICRAG) ‘Writing the Earth’
