Research Ireland Centre for Applied Geosciences

🎉 iCRAG is proud to congratulate former Director Prof. Murray Hitzman on his admission to the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA), the highest academic honour in Ireland.

An internationally recognised economic geologist, Murray served as Director of the iCRAG Research Ireland Centre for Applied Geosciences from 2018 to 2024, helping grow the Centre’s research, partnerships and global profile.

Congratulations, Murray, on this very well-deserved recognition👏

Read more on the iCRAG news page! https://www.icrag-centre.org/newsmedia/newslisting/2026/murraymria/

We are thrilled to introduce our latest artist in residence programme: The iCRAG Raw Materials Residency 2026.

An exciting new public engagement and arts-science collaboration, this residency will see visual artists Kathryn Maguire and Elaine Harrington engage with iCRAG geoscientists and research to explore connections between humanity, raw materials and natural resources.

With practices deeply embedded in landscape, materiality and nature based inquiry, Kathryn and Elaine will spend the remainder of 2026 immersing themselves into topics such as mining heritage, energy transitions, material circularity and more through knowledge sharing with geoscientists, material practice and field work.

This work brings art and science closer together to understand how we, as humans, engage with the ground beneath our feet.

Follow
and to stay engaged with their work as this residency develops!

What does climate-smart agriculture look like in practice? ☘️

Find out how award-winning research is advancing methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Irish grasslands, from field measurements to full ecosystem monitoring.

Congratulations to Morad Mirzaei (Trinity College Dublin), recipient of the Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland Postgraduate Researcher of the Year Award 2025. His research examines how multispecies grasslands can lower emissions while maintaining productivity, supporting more sustainable farming systems.

This work was carried out in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, in collaboration with , and supervised by Matthew Saunders, Rachael Murphy, and Karl Richards.

If you would like to learn more, Morad will present his research at the ENVIRON conference in Dublin on Tuesday 28 April from 17:00 to 17:30. Stay tuned.

Read more about the research in our news article (link in stories)

This research is supported by Taighde Éireann through iCRAG Research Ireland Centre for Applied Geosciences and was also supported by the Teagasc Climate Centre.

Place shapes perspective 🌍

Swipe through to follow the journey...

A field trip to Bull Island with Writing Place, Writing Planet

Thanks to Dr. Paula McGrath, Pat Corrigan, and Prof John Walsh
Stay tuned for what comes next

Geoscience expertise helping shape national policy 🌍

Professor Sarah A. Gleeson, Director of iCRAG Research Ireland Centre for Applied Geosciences and Professor in Sustainability Geoscience at the UCD School of Earth Sciences, has been appointed to Ireland’s first National Science Advice Forum, following the announcement by Minister James Lawless on 24 February.

Bringing together experts from across academia, health, engineering, law and industry, the Forum will support evidence-informed policymaking on key national challenges.

“I am very honoured to be appointed as one of 12 experts to Ireland’s first National Science Advice Forum and to contribute scientific advice on key national priorities, including climate change resilience and adaptation,” said Professor Gleeson.

This appointment highlights the growing role of Earth science in conversations around climate resilience, natural resources and a sustainable future.

🔗 Link in bio to read more.
Photo credit: Michael Bahlo

Writing Place, Writing Planet, the new fully funded six-month creative writing programme co-sponsored by iCRAG and the UCD Mary Lavin Centre for Creative Writing, was highlighted in the Irish Times Books Newsletter by Martin Doyle last week. Great to see this collaboration between literature and science gaining broader attention. The programme brings writers and geoscientists together to explore connections between place, planet, landscape and humanity through creative writing. It includes:

📖 writer-geoscientist co-creation sessions
📖 a field trip
📖 ongoing knowledge sharing and expert mentorship
📖 the creation of a new piece of work, publicly showcased during Heritage Week 2026

Three selected writers, working in fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, hybrid forms, or writing for stage and live performance, will also receive an honorarium. Full eligibility criteria and details are available on the UCD application page. Read more: on iCRAG news story: https://www.icrag-centre.org/newsmedia/newslisting/2026/writingplacewritingplanet/

Apply here (link in bio) //www.ucd.ie/englishdramafilm/newsandevents/writingplacewritingplanet/

Application deadline: 5pm, Friday 16 February

Please share with writers who may be interested.

iCRAG is thrilled to announce the application launch for Writing Place, Writing Planet - a new 6-month, fully-funded collaborative creative writing programme beginning March 19th!

Ireland has a rich history of impactful literature. Furthermore, when science and literature blend, inspiring works can emerge. Co-sponsored by The UCD Mary Lavin Centre for Creative Writing, Writing Place, Writing Planet wishes to strengthen ties between geoscience and literature in Ireland by bringing writers and geoscientists together to explore connections between place, planet, landscape and humanity through the medium of creative writing.

We are seeking three eligible writers to participate in this programme, writing in fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, hybrid forms or those writing for stage/live performance. The programme will involve writer-geoscientist co-creation sessions, a field trip, on-going knowledge sharing and expert writing mentorship, culminating in a new piece of written work to be publicly showcased during Heritage Week 2026. The three chosen writers will receive an honorarium for their work in the programme.

This programme is inspired by the pilot programme Writing the Earth, run in 2023 by iCRAG and The Irish Writers Centre and Writing the Environment, a successful creative writing module run by Dr. Paula McGrath at UCD, now in its fifth year.

To apply as a writer or find out more information, head to the UCD School of English, Drama and Film website: Link in Bio

The application deadline for Writing Place, Writing Planet is 5pm Friday February 16th.



hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

Dr Eoghan Holohan (iCRAG@UCD) talking to RTÉ News about his research on monitoring Peatlands,

A project in Co Wicklow, known as the AI2Peat project, is using AI to monitor the country’s bogs. The project aims to develop a clearer picture of which areas of peatland are absorbing carbon and which areas are emitting carbon. This will help to identify the bogs that need to be managed and restored. Research teams across Ireland are working on a variety of AI projects aimed at tackling some of our biggest environmental problems. The projects that range from the vastness of our peatlands to the smallest of insects. Go to link in bio for more

🌊 Underwater Worlds: Art, Science and the Submerged

Join us for a free public event that dives into the hidden realms beneath our waters, bringing together art, science, and critical narratives around submerged ecosystems.

🗓️ Wed 3 December | 10:00 – 14:00

📍 RSAI, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2

Free event! Registration here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/underwater-worlds-art-science-and-the-submerged-tickets-1968106343052?aff=oddtdtcreator

🎥 Featuring London-based artist Sonia Levy, whose inquiry-led video-art and lecture explore submerged ecologies and question the extractive and anti-extractive narratives shaping our hydrosocial worlds.

This immersive experience will be followed by the interdisciplinary panel “Visualising the Invisible”, which invites audiences and panelists to reflect on the implications of producing underwater imagery, with contributions from:

🔹 Dr Ruth Leeney (UCD) – marine conservation & BRUVs

🔹 Dr Dominic Bush (UCC) – underwater cultural heritage & shipwrecks

🔹 – Dublin-based artist, whose project Foram was developed during an iCRAG-supported artist residency on an Arctic research vessel

🔹 Sonia Levy – artist and filmmaker

Organised by , the Marine & Energy Social Sciences & Humanities Interdisciplinary Research Group at UCD, and supported by iCRAG Research Ireland Centre for Applied Geosciences and the UCD Earth Institute. MESSAGE carries out interdisciplinary research at the intersection of AHSS and STEM, focused on coastal, marine and renewable energy challenges.