iCRAGs Geoscience for Sustainability PhD programme was launched in 2022 which resulted in the recruitment of over 30 new PhD researchers. iCRAG is delighted to welcome the next generation of researchers who will be future leaders in delivering innovative science and technologies to better understand our planet, sustainably manage our natural resources and protect the environment.

Over the coming weeks, iCRAG will be proudly introducing our newest researchers, starting with Nikita Turton (UCD), Thomas Austin (UCD), Niladri Chowdhury (TCD), Malena Cazorla Martínez, (UCD).

Nikita Turton (UCD)

Project title: Global weathering rates and sediment fluxes during early Cenozoic hothouse climates

Nikita is a PhD researcher working within the Earth Systems Change research group of iCRAG. Nikita graduated with a MSc in Geology from the Antarctic Research Centre at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington in 2019, where her research investigated the ice dynamics and oceanic response of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to orbital forcing during the early Pliocene. Nikita then worked in the Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory at Te Pū Ao—GNS Science in Wellington before starting her PhD at UCD in 2023 under the supervision of Dr. Weimu Xu.

Thomas Austin (UCD)

Project title: Modelling the 3D fault architecture at resurgent caldera volcanoes

Thomas is a Postgraduate researcher in iCRAG at University College Dublin (UCD) studying Resurgent Caldera Volcanoes using numerical and analogue modelling to understand their fault architecture.

Thomas initially graduated from the University of Southampton with a BSc in Geology in 2018 and a MRes in Marine Geology and Geophysics in 2019. Thomas took a sabbatical from academics to become a Mathematics and Science teacher at a Bishopsgate School in Surry in the U.K. Subsequently, he completed a MSc in Volcanology from the University of Bristol, graduating in 2022 before joining iCRAG in January of 2023, under the supervision of Dr Claire Harnett and Dr Eoghan Holohan.

Niladri Chowdhury (TCD) 

Project title: Vulnerability of karst groundwater systems to contamination by on-site wastewater effluent

I have done Bachelors Of Engineering in Civil Engineering from Jadavpur University, India. I completed my Master Of Technology (M.Tech) in Civil Engineering Department with specialization in Environmental Engineering from Indian Institute Of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati). My M.Tech project was about groundwater quality monitoring and modeling. Currently, I am a Ph.D. student in the Department Of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at Trinity College Dublin.

Malena Cazorla Martínez (UCD)

Project title: Controls on high-grade cobalt mineralization in the Central African Copperbelt

Malena is a PhD researcher at iCRAG - University College Dublin, in the Raw Materials department. She graduated with a BSc in Geology in 2019 from the University of Barcelona (Spain). Later on, she moved to Geneva (Switzerland), where she did her master's degree in Geochemistry, Alpine Tectonics, and Ore Deposits at the University of Geneva. Before joining iCRAG, Malena's research projects focused mainly on critical metal distribution and fluid evolution in epithermal deposits in the Andean Cordillera (Bolivia and Peru).