Geohazards and geoengineering:
Given the growing population and changing climate, the need to identify, monitor, and mitigate geohazards is increasingly important to protect society. Advances in geotechnical engineering are essential to ensure the resilience of existing and newbuild infrastructure. Research on the geological causes of, and controls on, geohazards will be shared with decision makers to advise about risk and choices to address risks.
Research activities are focussed on the following areas:
- Tunnel construction and maintenance
- Sinkholes and hazards to groundwater and infrastructure in karst terrains
- Ground motions of Irish peatlands
- Flooding risks in a changing climate
- Early warning for volcanoes
- Improved monitoring for anthropogenic and natural seismicity
Responsible decision making:
The creation of a sustainable society involves decisions that encompass economics, politics, business, ethics, and social structures in addition to science. These decisions will be influenced by individuals, communities, industry, scientists and policy makers at local, regional, national, and supranational levels. Such decision-making processes are both dynamic and interactive, formed by social and cultural structures and debated in (social) media. iCRAG's researchers in this area aim to advance decision-making processes, to ensure responsible environmental management decisions and responsible extraction and (re)use of Earth’s resources. Our work examines how cultural and social structures and media debates influence perspectives and choices related to the Earth system and geoscience, and how inclusiveness may be enhanced, e.g., by looking at gender issues, rural communities, and vulnerable groups.
Research activities are focussed on the following areas:
- Advancing sustainability of business and policy decision making
- Social risk perceptions of geoengineering and geohazards
- Examining societal variability regarding just transition and climate action
- Responsible geoscience research and innovation
Bio-based Solutions:
In collaboration with the NSF-funded Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG) and Queen’s University Belfast Energy Efficient Materials Research Center (EEM), this US-Ireland Centre-to-Centre partnership collaborates with several Irish and international industrial partners as part of The US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership programme.
The research project, entitled “Multi-scale Investigation of Bio-Based Mineral Precipitation in Carbonate Bearing Granular Soils and Construction Related Waste” uses microbes and enzymes to enhance methods of bio-based mineral precipitation which can be used to cement granular soils, encapsulate problematic waste such as asbestos, and stabilise soil slopes in areas of high land-slide risk.
The US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership is a unique initiative involving funding agencies across three jurisdictions: the National Science Foundation of the United States of America, Science Foundation Ireland of the Republic of Ireland & the Department for the Environment of Northern Ireland. The overall goal of the Partnership is to increase the level of collaborative R&D amongst researchers and industry across the three jurisdictions. This collaboration aims to generate valuable discoveries and innovations which are transferable to the marketplace, or will lead to enhancements in health, disease prevention or healthcare.
