Dr. Valerie McCarthy
I am Assistant Professor in Ecology and Biodiversity in the School of History and Geography, DCU and current Chair of the BA in Climate and Environmental Sustainability programme. I was previously Director of the Centre for Freshwater and Environmental Studies (CFES) at Dundalk Institute of Technology and Program Director for the BSc (Hons) in Environmental Bioscience program at DkIT. I received a PhD in Freshwater Ecology from Trinity College Dublin, where my research focused on investigating the impacts of elemental limitation in zooplankton food on zooplankton community structure and pelagic trophic interactions. My research interests encompass community and ecosystem ecology in freshwater systems, investigating the linkages between aquatic systems and their catchments, with a particular focus on ecological stoichiometry.
Research Interests
My research interests are concerned with theoretical community and ecosystem ecology and nutrient dynamics in freshwater systems with a particular focus on ecological stoichiometry. My current work investigates how lake and wetland systems respond to perturbations arising both directly and indirectly from human induced impacts such as nutrient loading and climate change. I am also interested in the use of high frequency and remote sensing technologies to monitor surface water quality.
Teaching Interests
My teaching ethos is underpinned by a desire to provide students with the multidisciplinary perspective needed to gain critical insight and demonstrate innovate ways of thinking which are capable of integrating knowledge from multiple disciplines in order to appropriately respond to the many interconnected environmental demands we currently face such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
By specifically embedding innovative content and learning approaches and working on real-world environmental projects and scenarios, I aim to support students who will be capable of understanding and approaching environmental challenges in transformative ways.