liam connell
Current role
My current role as Research Co-Ordinator for the Odysys Lab at UCD is running the day-to-day operations on the ERC project MolStressH2O, headed by Dr. Katharina Wollenberg Valero. The project includes a number of postgraduate and post-doctoral studies assessing the role and consequences of mutations in heat stress in three key aquatic ectotherm species – Madagascan reed frog (Heterixalus alboguttatus), marine harbour ragworm (Hediste diversicolor), and the zebrafish (Danio rerio).
Biography
I completed my BSc in Environmental Science (majoring in Geography and Zoology) in 2016 at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa. In 2017, I completed my BSc Honours Degree in Zoology at UJ, where I investigated the effects of environmental pollutants on the biochemical response of the African sharptooth Catfish (Clarias gariepinus). I then received my MSC in Zoology in 2018 from UJ, where I further investigated the effects of environmental stressors and pollutants on the biochemical response (biomarkers of exposure, effect, and energetics) of Clarias gariepinus. In 2019 I began my PhD journey at UJ, where I shifted my focus to the marine environment – more specifically, the rocky shore. My project has focused on the effects of climate change on a mid-shore limpet species, the Cape False Limpet (Siphonaria capensis) along the southern and west coasts of South Africa in marine protected areas (MPAs). The study focused on determining sublethal (ABT – Arrhenius breakpoint temperature) and lethal (FLT – flatline temperature) thermal limits, the synergistic/antagonistic effect of increased thermal and xenobiotic (cadmium) stress on cardiac performance (mean heart rates), biomarker responses (biomarkers of exposure, effect, energetics, and heat shock protein 70), and bioaccumulation of cadmium at environmentally relevant concentrations. It is from my postgraduate studies, most notably through my PhD, that I have gained a passion for research into the effects of climate change on biodiversity.
My current role as Research Co-Ordinator for the Odysys Lab at UCD is running the day-to-day operations on the ERC project MolStressH2O, headed by Dr. Katharina Wollenberg Valero. The project includes a number of postgraduate and post-doctoral studies assessing the role and consequences of mutations in heat stress in three key aquatic ectotherm species – Madagascan reed frog (Heterixalus alboguttatus), marine harbour ragworm (Hediste diversicolor), and the zebrafish (Danio rerio).
Biography
I completed my BSc in Environmental Science (majoring in Geography and Zoology) in 2016 at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa. In 2017, I completed my BSc Honours Degree in Zoology at UJ, where I investigated the effects of environmental pollutants on the biochemical response of the African sharptooth Catfish (Clarias gariepinus). I then received my MSC in Zoology in 2018 from UJ, where I further investigated the effects of environmental stressors and pollutants on the biochemical response (biomarkers of exposure, effect, and energetics) of Clarias gariepinus. In 2019 I began my PhD journey at UJ, where I shifted my focus to the marine environment – more specifically, the rocky shore. My project has focused on the effects of climate change on a mid-shore limpet species, the Cape False Limpet (Siphonaria capensis) along the southern and west coasts of South Africa in marine protected areas (MPAs). The study focused on determining sublethal (ABT – Arrhenius breakpoint temperature) and lethal (FLT – flatline temperature) thermal limits, the synergistic/antagonistic effect of increased thermal and xenobiotic (cadmium) stress on cardiac performance (mean heart rates), biomarker responses (biomarkers of exposure, effect, energetics, and heat shock protein 70), and bioaccumulation of cadmium at environmentally relevant concentrations. It is from my postgraduate studies, most notably through my PhD, that I have gained a passion for research into the effects of climate change on biodiversity.
