Roden Oliver Associates
Roden Oliver Associates consists of Dr. Geoff Oliver and Dr. Cilian Roden, two self-employed ecologists who have co-operated on several projects in the past. Geoff and Cilian, along with the late Dr. Brenda Healy, are responsible for much of our knowledge of Irish lagoons. National and European classification and conservation status of this habitat in Ireland is based on this work (see Healy, 2003). Roden Oliver Associates have completed four contracts (2009, 2010, 2011, 2016-2017) with the EPA on applying the Water Framework Directive to Irish lagoons. Geoff compiled the Assessment of Conservation Status of Coastal Lagoon habitat in Ireland required under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive in 2007 and again in 2013, and, together with Cilian sampled lagoons and wrote the Monitoring and Assessment of Irish lagoons for the purpose of the EU Water Framework Directive on behalf of the EPA from 2009 – 2011. Geoff studied seasonal changes and biological classification of Irish coastal lagoons for his Ph.D in 2005. Geoff's role in this research project will focus on benthic fauna and Cilian's role will focus on plankton and macrophytes.
AQUAFACT International Services Ltd.
AQUAFACT is a Galway based environmental consultancy specialising in monitoring and managing resources in marine and freshwater environments. Over its thirty-three year history, AQUAFACT has developed considerable experience working in lagoons both in Ireland and abroad. The most recent work was with Dr. Cilian Roden and Dr. Geoff Oliver on the 2016-2017 assessment of Irish lagoons for the EPA (Monitoring and Assessment of Irish lagoons for the purpose of the EU Water Framework Directive) and NPWS (Assessment of Conservation Status of Coastal Lagoon habitat in Ireland). A key project member, Kevin McCaffrey, M.Sc recently completed his M.Sc. thesis entitled 'Variation in benthic communities among different habitats in a permanently stratified coastal lagoon in Connemara, Ireland'. AQUAFACT's role in this research project includes Project Management, Communications, benthic faunal and sediment assessments, water sampling and the collection of oceanographic data.
Hydro Environmental Ltd.
Hydro Environmental Ltd. is a Galway based hydrological consultancy firm providing specialist services in the areas of hydrology, hydrogeology, hydraulics and coastal engineering. Anthony Cawley has carried out hydrodynamic and salinity modelling of lagoons in Galway Bay. Hydro Environmental Ltd. will develop a hydrodynamic model of Lady's Island Lake.
BEC Consultants Ltd.
Botanical, Environmental & Conservation (BEC) Consultants Ltd. is an ecological consultancy providing high quality specialist advice to a wide range of clients throughout Ireland and at European Union level. Dr. Philip Perrin is an experienced botanist and specialises in the analysis of large datasets using univariate and multivariate analysis using the freeware R statistical environment. BEC's role will involve construction of a nutrient and salinity budget based on the data of WPs 2, 3 and 4 and the development of a box model relating plankton to light penetration
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Montpellier
The French National Centre for Scientific Research is among the world's leading research institutions. Internationally recognised for the excellence of its scientific research, the CNRS is a reference in the world of research and development, as well as for the general public. Rutger de Wit works in the Centre for Marine Biodiversity, Exploitation and Conservation (MARBEC) in CNRS and is a trained microbial ecologist and biogeochemist and has 20 years of experience in multidisciplinary studies on coastal lagoon ecosystems and is active at the science-management interface for these ecosystems. Dr. de Wit has recently completed a study on the ecological restoration of coastal lagoons (de Wit et al., 2017).
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The EPA are co-funders of this project and they will be providing expertise through their role on the Steering Committee.
National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS)
NPWS of the Department of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht are co-funders of this project and they will be providing expertise through their role on the Steering Committee.