Marine Institute to showcase researchers at Burrishoole Research Day
THIS Thursday, February 25, the Marine Institute will host the Burrishoole Research Day, a virtual symposium showcasing the wide network of researchers connected to the Marine Institute’s Newport Research Facility in Mayo.
The symposium will include short talks from 26 researchers representing seven Irish and UK higher education institutions, including the Marine Institute. Researchers will share insights into their research projects and advances in areas such as climate change, fish telemetry, genomics, aquaculture and ecological change.
The Newport Research Facility in Mayo has been in operation since 1955, and has been part of the Marine Institute since 1999. Located at the base of the Burrishoole catchment, the facility is at the interface of the freshwater and marine ecosystems. The combination of the unique location, and long-time series of environmental datasets, have attracted national and international researchers to the facility for many decades.
Fisheries research at the facility focuses on migration, ecology, genetics, population dynamics and management advice for species including salmon, sea trout, eel, sea bass, blue fin tuna, pollack and stickleback. There are also a range of research projects on the impacts of climate and land use change on aquatic ecosystems, limnology, oceanography and sustainable aquaculture.
Researchers in Newport have secured competitive funding in a number of research areas. As part of the Marine Institute’s Cullen Scholarship Programme, a number of postgraduate students have also been based at the facility to work on projects relevant to the Marine Institute while studying for a higher degree. The resulting research network, encompassing researchers from the Marine Institute and higher education institutes, is diverse and collaborative. This symposium will highlight progress on research projects in the last three years, as well as introduce some new projects.
The symposium will include four sessions via Zoom from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, February 25. To access the programme and the Zoom link, email burrishooleLTER@marine.ie.