NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute for Environmental, Marine and Energy Research will be officially launched on Tuesday, 10 July, by Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science. The Ryan Institute has over 300 researchers making it Ireland’s largest research institute to focus on some of the most pressing environmental and energy issues of the 21st century.
The official launch will coincide with a public symposium entitled ‘Green Shift, Blue Growth, Bright Future?’ featuring leading international experts in the environmental marine, energy and smart infrastructure research.
The symposium will be opened by Pat Rabbitte TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The keynote address, ‘A global perspective on the environment in 2040’, will be delivered by Dr Aaron Bernstein, Director of the Centre for Health and the Global Environment atHarvardMedicalSchool. He is co-author of the acclaimed book Sustaining Life, which examines the threats that diminishing biodiversity pose to human health.
Other speakers at the symposium will include: Dr Kristina Johnson, former Under Secretary for Energy at the Department of Energy inWashington,DC; Dr Diarmuid O’Donovan, Centre for Health from Environment, Ryan Institute; Dr Lisa Amini, Head of IBM’s Smarter Cities Technology Centre inDublin; and Dr Niall McDonough, European Science Foundation.
In the afternoon, sessions will focus on national and regional issues, with a specific focus on how Ryan Institute research can feed into regional development. Members of the Galway 2040 Initiative, whose supporters are interested in developing a vision and plan for sustainable development of Galwaycity and county, will be contributing strongly to the discussions.
Other high-profile guests and researchers will stimulate discussion on some of the most important technological, scientific and socio-economic global and local perspectives on environmental, marine and energy issues.
NUI Galway’s formal research in this area goes back to the early-1990s when a donation from Dr Tony Ryan, founder of Ryanair, was made in memory of his father Martin. The symposium is free and all are welcomed to be involved. Registration and programme details for the day can be found on www.conference.ie.