Application Deadline: 12 May 2025
Details
Supervisory team
- Primary supervisor: Professor David Hannah
- Supervisor: Professor Iseult Lynch
- Supervisor: Dr Tahmina Yasmin
Project description
Work on an exciting interdisciplinary project exploring chemical risks and multi-hazard interactions in Lough Neagh, combining environmental science and human geography approaches.
Gain hands-on experience in water sampling and quality analysis, stakeholder dialogue, resilience building strategies by developing both technical and social research skills.
Contribute to addressing urgent environmental challenges, enabling early detection, enhance risk communication, and promote sustainable management of freshwater ecosystem facing ecological and human-induced threats.
Scientific motivation and research gaps
Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the UK and a vital ecological and economic resource for Northern Ireland, is under increasing threat from complex environmental challenges. Nutrient enrichment from excessive fertilisation of farmland, climate change, and the proliferation of invasive species are among the key drivers of water quality decline and are driving the increasing prevalence, frequency, and intensity of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) since the mid-20th century (Ho, Michalak, and Pahlevan, 2019). These toxic events, also referred to as eutrophication, disrupt aquatic ecosystems services, harm public health, and impact economic activities (Amorim and Moura, 2020). Factors such as land-use changes, urbanization, deforestation, irrigation, and water abstraction exacerbate HABs impacts, while climate change contributes by increasing surface water temperatures and altering precipitation patterns with frequent flooding events (Griffith and Gobler, 2020). Invasive species further disrupt ecosystems by altering grazing, nutrient cycling, and water filtration (Hallegraeff, 1992; Pal et al., 2020).
In addition to contaminated drinking water, toxins from HABs can become airborne and transported inland, posing additional health risks through inhalation secreted by (Lim et al., 2023). However, the relationship between HAB aerosols and health outcomes remains unclear despite the potential for population-level exposures. Together, these interconnected risks demand the need for systemic approaches to managing ecosystem and human health.
The 2023 HAB event in Lough Neagh exposed critical ecological and public health risks, including nutrient pollution, presence of thirteen human pathogens and Ireland’s first-documented harmful cyanotoxins (anabaenopeptins) (Reid et al., 2024). marked by its severity and duration, revealed significant ecological and public health risks. Key findings included elevated nutrient inputs from livestock, wildfowl, and untreated wastewater, the presence of 13 pathogens capable of causing human illnesses, and disrupted biodiversity, water quality, tourism, and livelihoods, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable, evidence-based management.
Research Aim
The RESCUE project aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of systemic chemical risks and multi-hazard interactions in Lough Neagh to enable early detection, effective communication, and sustainable management of ecological and anthropogenic threats.
Research Objectives
To achieve this aim, the following four objectives have been formulated:
Objective 1: Examine how chemical and biological risks and multi-hazard interactions, such as flooding and HABs, interconnect and propagate within Lough Neagh, impacting its ecological integrity and essential ecosystem services, and the datasets that need to be integrated and aligned (in terms of spatial scale, resolution etc.) to facilitate this.
Objective 2: Identify and validate ecological and anthropogenic indicators from the integrated datasets suitable for the early detection of threats to water quality, biodiversity, and critical ecosystem services, including drinking water and aquatic habitats.
Objective 3: Design and implement a stakeholder-specific early warning framework that integrates water quality and health surveillance data to ensure timely identification and mitigation of risks.
Objective 4: Develop tailored communication strategies to engage diverse stakeholders, such as lake owners, local authorities, and communities, fostering awareness, collaboration, and coordinated action.
Methodological approach and skills development
The research will employ a mixed-methods approach, integrating spatial-analysis, indicator development, stakeholder communication design, and field-based studies (including water quality monitoring and assessment of aerosol generation) to achieve its objectives. A GIS-based tool will be utilized to map the cascading impacts of multi-hazard interactions, such as flooding and algal blooms, using spatial and temporal datasets. This analysis will include a focus on the water-health nexus by examining data on hospital visits before and after HAB incidents—providing insights into the broader societal impacts of these events. To develop tailored indicators for early warning systems, the research will identify and validate datasets capturing both ecological and anthropogenic factors. Key ecological indicators, such as algal biomass and dissolved oxygen levels, changes in aerosol compositions, will be combined with anthropogenic indicators like land-use patterns and nutrient inflows to provide a comprehensive understanding of the lake’s vulnerabilities. The study will also design and test stakeholder-specific communication strategies. These strategies will ensure the inclusion of diverse groups, such as local authorities, lake owners, and community organizations, promoting awareness and collaboration for risk mitigation.
Timeline and significance
Field studies will be conducted in two phases, integrating data collection, modelling, and participatory feedback loops. Gerry Darby from the Lough Neagh Partnership (LNP) will be supporting the field work and contributing to the development of stakeholder engagement strategies. These iterative phases will help refine the early warning framework, ensuring its effectiveness and adaptability to local contexts. Tentative plan for the work includes
Year 1: Baseline assessment, stakeholder engagement, and data acquisition and curation.
Year 2: Development and validation of chemical risk indicators; preliminary risk modelling.
Year 3: Pilot implementation of early warning systems in selected sites; stakeholder workshops.
Year 3.5: Publication of results, and dissemination of findings.
Funding Notes
UK (“Home”) students: Successful applicants will receive substantial financial support, including a stipend matched to UKRI rates (25/26: ÂŁ20,780), fee waivers (25/26: ÂŁ5,006), and generous project consumables, travel and subsistence allowance.
International (“Overseas”) students: Successful applicants may apply and receive funding at the equivalent rate of UK students, however the student will be responsible for payment of the outstanding fee balance.
References
Amorim, C. A., & Moura, A. N. (2020). Effects of the manipulation of submerged macrophytes, large zooplankton, and nutrients on a cyanobacterial bloom: A mesocosm study in a tropical shallow reservoir. Environmental Pollution, 265, 114997.
Griffith, A. W., & Gobler, C. J. (2020). Harmful algal blooms: A climate change co-stressor in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Harmful Algae, 91, 101590.
Hallegraeff, G. M. (1992). Harmful algal blooms in the Australian region. Marine pollution bulletin, 25(5-8), 186-190.
Ho, J. C., Michalak, A. M., & Pahlevan, N. (2019). Widespread global increase in intense lake phytoplankton blooms since the 1980s. Nature, 574(7780), 667-670.
Pal, M., Yesankar, P. J., Dwivedi, A., & Qureshi, A. (2020). Biotic control of harmful algal blooms (HABs): A brief review. Journal of environmental management, 268, 110687.
Reid, N., Reyne, M. I., O’Neill, W., Greer, B., He, Q., Burdekin, O., … & Elliott, C. T. (2024). Unprecedented Harmful algal bloom in the UK and Ireland’s largest lake associated with gastrointestinal bacteria, microcystins and anabaenopeptins presenting an environmental and public health risk. Environment international, 190
