EPA Research 2020 awards

This page provides information about the EPA Research 2020 awards including:

2020 Research awards

A total of 46 awards were made in 2020, including strategic partnerships at national and international level.

SchemeAwards madeFunding committed
2019 Climate Call (reserve list) 2 €798,553
2019 Water Call (reserve list) 1 €1,490,023
Green Enterprise projects 4 €381,738
2020 - EPA-Irish Research Council Scholarship Scheme 7 €600,000
Fulbright-EPA awards 2 €31,500
Five Year Assessment Report - climate research 7 €1,431,054
SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme 5 €1,008,700
Phase 3 EPA-ESRI Research Programme 10 €2,185,000
EPA-IPA Research Programme 1 €392,000
DAFM 2019 strategic partnership 4 €500,000
Climate JPI SOLSTICE joint transnational call 1 €148,450
Other awards 2 €105,049
Total: 46 €9,072,067

A list of all awards made in 2020 can be found below.

EPA Research climate projects

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject Title Project TypeCo-funded with
University College Cork (UCC) John Wenger Source Apportionment of Air Pollution in the Dublin Port Area Large Scale Project n/a
University of Birmingham Nicholas Kettridge Irish Peatland Resilience to changing climate and increased frequency and severity of drought Medium Scale  Project NPWS

EPA Research water projects

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject Title  Project TypeCo-funded with 
University College Dublin (UCD) Michael Bruen WFD Future Scenarios and Management Tools Capability Development Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)

Green Enterprise projects

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject Title Project TypeCo-funded with
Irish Green Building Council Pat Barry Closing the loop on construction LCA Green Enterprise n/a
Polymer Alloy Technology Teo. Adrian Doyle Recycling Waste Farm Plastics into On-Farm Livestock Drinkers Green Enterprise n/a
John Gannon Concrete Ltd T/A Gannon Eco Noeleen Fox Replacement Aggregate for Cement Products Green Enterprise n/a
ÉireComposites Teoranta Tomas Flanagan Development of an innovative manufacturing process using RecyclAble REinforced Plastic for producing wind turbine blades Green Enterprise n/a

EPA-Irish Research Council scholarships

Lead OrganisationApplicantProject TitleCo-funded with
Dublin City University (DCU) Dylan O'Flynn   Empire Evaluate - Effect based Monitoring for Environmental Pollution in Ireland and Evaluation of Mitigation Strategies to Minimise its Impact Irish Research Council (IRC) 
National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) Dakota Holmes Providing Insights from Climate Archives (PICA): a multiproxy approach for the reconstruction of AMOC response to Quaternary climate events Irish Research Council (IRC) 
Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) Mairead  Gallagher Studies on Metabolites of Common Antibiotics in the Development of Antimicrobial Resistance (AM-AMR) Irish Research Council (IRC) 
University College Cork (UCC) Eibhlín Halpin  Spectroscopic Technology for Analysing Nitrogen Dioxide and Urgent Personal exposure measurements (STANDUP) Irish Research Council (IRC) 
University College Cork (UCC) Amy O'Halloran Private Transnational Environmental Regulation and Systemic Interactions in Global Environmental Governance Irish Research Council (IRC) 
University College Dublin (UCD) Robert Watson A multi-data machine learning approach to identifying, mapping and characterising sinkhole populations in karst environments Irish Research Council (IRC) 
University College Dublin (UCD) Stacey Kerr Pharming of high value metabolites from transplastomic plant cells using bioreactors Irish Research Council (IRC)

Fulbright-EPA awards

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject Title Co-funded with
University College Cork (UCC) Astrid Wingler Carbon capture and soil carbon sequestration in annual and perennial grasslands Fulbright Commission Ireland
University College Dublin  (UCD) Holly English Adaptive conservation management considering models of species population changes under climate change predictions Fulbright Commission Ireland

Five Year Assessment Report - climate research

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject TitleCo-funded with
Dublin City University (DCU) Diarmuid Torney Five Year Assessment Report - Writer Support Award – Volume 4 n/a
Maynooth University (MU) Conor Murphy Five Year Assessment Report - Writer Support Award - Volume 3  n/a
Maynooth University (MU) David Smyth Five Year Assessment Report - Fellowship  n/a
Maynooth University (MU) Peter Thorne Five Year Assessment Report - Writer Support Award – Volume 1B  n/a
National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) Paul Nolan Five Year Assessment Report - Writer Support Award – Volume 3B  n/a                        
University College Cork (UCC) Brian O'Gallachoir Five Year Assessment Report - Writer Support Award – Volume 2A  n/a
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Jennifer McElwain                  Five Year Assessment Report - Writer Support Award – Volume 1A                  n/a

Science Foundation Ireland Frontiers for the Future Programme

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject TitleCo-funded with
University College Dublin (UCD) Shane Donohue Geophysical and Earth Observation Tools for Evaluating the Condition of Slopes Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Caroline Brophy Achieving sustainable agri-ecosystems through advances in modelling and visualising the biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality relationship Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Juan Diego Rodriguez-Blanco SEparating Critical metals ThrOugh mineRal crystallization Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Paula Colavita Advancing the green transition via novel electrode materials for valorisation processes Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Pepijn Luijckx Can we use metabolic theory of ecology to predict disease outbreaks in a warming world? Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)

Phase 3 EPA-ESRI Environment Research Programme

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject TitleCo-funded with
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan Consumption-based Greenhouse Gas Emissions Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan Health Effects of Drinking Water Quality in Ireland Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan The Social Distribution of Environmental Quality, Pollution and Health Outcomes Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan Estimating the Societal Costs of Illness caused by Environmental Pollutants Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan Health and Wellbeing Effects of a Clean and Healthy Environment and Environmental Amenities Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan Designing a Green, Equitable and Socially Acceptable Subsidy Scheme Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan Behaviourally-informed tests of radon testing and remediation communications Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan A diagnostic experiment to identify ways to improve communications with young people aged 13-25 years Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan A diagnostic experiment and randomised controlled trail to test ways to improve waste management Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Anne Nolan Green VAT Reform Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)

EPA-IPA Research Programme

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject TitleCo-funded with
Institute of Public Administration (IPA) Joanna O'Riordan Experimental Governance with regard to Ireland’s Water Governance Structures and Processes Institute of Public Administration (IPA)

DAFM 2019 strategic partnership

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject TitleCo-funded with
Teagasc Dominika Krol Abating Ammonia in Agriculture Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM)
Teagasc Sinead Waters Development and validation of novel technologies to reduce methane emissions from pasture based Irish agricultural systems Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM)
University College Dublin (UCD) John O'Sullivan Hydrological and sediment impacts of forestry operations in Ireland Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM)
National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) James Moran High Nature Value Farmland and Forestry Systems for Biodiversity Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM)

2019/2020 Climate JPI SOLSTICE

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject TitleCo-funded with
National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) Gary Goggins Challenging the Climate Crisis: Children’s Agency to TAckle Policy Underpinned by Learning for Transformation SOLSTICE funders      

Other awards

Lead OrganisationPrincipal InvestigatorProject TitleCo-funded with
Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) Iulia Siedschlag Ex-Post Analysis of the Impact of National Landfill Policy for GHG-Emissions in the Waste Sector n/a
National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) Dearbhaile Morris Research Gap Analysis - Antimicrobial Resistance and the Environment n/a