Meet The Team
Who are we?
The Oceanographic and Climate Services (OCS) team members bring with them a variety of backgrounds and interests. What brings us together is a common care for our ocean and climate. Here we feature some short interviews and testimonials from some of our team to share with you an idea of the scope of our work and how we arrived at OCS.
What is your current role at the Marine Institute and what's involved in your daily work?
I currently lead the oceanographic and climate services group in the Marine Institute. The group integrates ocean observations, forecast models and climate projections for Irish waters. We try to harness all of the oceanographic data generated by the Marine Institute and other data providers to build a coherent picture of how the ocean around Ireland works and how it is changing over time. We make these products and services available to scientists within the Marine Institute and deliver them to other public sector bodies, universities and the private sector. The typical sectors we support are research, fisheries, aquaculture, environmental monitoring, ocean energy, search and rescue, shipping and tourism and leisure. We are starting to develop climate services to help government departments and local authorities adapt to marine climate change.
What did you study and why?
I started by studying Geography (mainly meteorology and climatology) at University College Dublin. During a two-year gap in my studies I worked on a superyacht in the south of France (for the fifth richest person in the world at the time!) which made me realise that I would like a job involving Geography and boats so I came up with oceanography as a good compromise between those two things. I then studied a Masters and PhD in Oceanography at National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway). I had an interesting time explaining to my superyacht captain boss that I was trading-in life on the French Riviera for bouncing around Galway Bay in a small research boat in winter! Oceanography has taken me all over the world – the Arctic, Caribbean and Atlantic for research cruises and most other places to meet and collaborate with other oceanographers.
I worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in NUI Galway after my studies before joining the Marine Institute in 2003. With the exception of a five-year career break trying to develop a European Ocean Observing System in Brussels, I have been here ever since.
What are your interests and passions?
I would spend time on or near the sea even if I wasn't an oceanographer. I really like to sail, both in small dinghies and bigger yachts. I also like to surf, though I spend more time in the water than on the water! I remain determined to catch a shed-load of mackerel from the pier at Rinville at some point! I have always been a keen soccer player and have the dubious honour of coaching my son's Under 13 soccer team (Maree Oranmore) which is inspiring and frustrating at the same time! I also sing in the Marine Choir which is going a good few years now.
What is the best thing about working in the Marine Institute? What do you enjoy most about your job?
I really like the diverse aspects of the job, that you can be out in a small boat one day working out things about the ocean and the next day be persuading policy makers that the ocean is important (and to continue to fund us!) I also love the fact that there are so many people from different disciplines working at the Marine Institute that we collaborate with. I didn't expect to know as much about fish, plankton, seabed maps, and data infrastructure as I do now, but I like to learn new things and the Marine Institute is a great environment for that. My colleagues reckon they will be able to help me make any computer code I write 1000% shorter than it is now given a further two decades of training and I think I'm up for the challenge!
What is something you think everyone should know about the ocean?
The ocean is complicated and vulnerable with huge possibilities in terms of people making a living from it and enjoying its wonder, if we take care of it. Informing the public about these things is probably the most important thing that we do at the Marine Institute and all of our staff can be ambassadors for the ocean.
Caroline Cusack
What is your current role at the Marine Institute and what's involved in your daily work?
I am working as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Ocean Climate and Information Services team at the Marine Institute. My work focuses on ocean modelling and data analysis. Ocean modelling consists of simulating the dynamics of the ocean (e.g. currents, sea level, temperature and salinity distributions), based on a description of the depth and shape of the seafloor, the multiple air-sea interactions (fluxes of mass, radiation and momentum), the freshwater inputs from rivers and an initial state. This is interesting because it allows us to obtain short-term or long-term (such as climate projection studies) forecasts of the ocean state and to produce three-dimensional visualisations of the sea, thus complementing observations. Ocean modelling can be applied in many ways, such as predicting the path of a missing person in the sea by looking at models of ocean currents, determining areas of suitability for oyster growth based on the distribution of temperature and salinity, or analysing the frequency, duration and intensity of marine heat waves. These three examples are directly related to my current role at the Marine Institute.
What did you study and why?
I studied Marine Sciences in the University of Vigo in Spain, because I have always had an interest in natural sciences. During the last course, I started learning about ocean modelling and computer programming. I completed a Master's Degree in Oceanography and later did a PhD on the modelling of floating litter in the ocean. It was towards the end of my PhD that I joined the Marine Institute.
What are your interests and passions?
I like chess, cycling, hiking and sky watching.
What is the best thing about working in the Marine Institute? What do you enjoy most about your job?
I like that my work is oriented towards services that are helpful to people and that the tasks have a well-defined purpose. For example, I have contributed to search and rescue operations for people missing in the sea by running particle-tracking models that predict the movement of a floating body on the sea surface. I am now involved in a project to help the oyster farming sector in Galway Bay to find areas suitable for oyster growth based on environmental conditions. It is quite satisfactory to know that other people find your work helpful.
What is something you think everyone should know about the ocean?
I think it is important to increase general awareness about the implications of seawater pollution. It is surprising to see how much litter is still left along the coastline. The impact of marine pollution affects not only the marine environment, but also human health.