Tipperary journalist is awarded prestigious college scholarship for four-year research role

 Tipperary's Aislinn Kelly has been awarded the prestigious EPA Lighthouse PhD Scholarship at Mary Immaculate College’s annual College Awards Ceremony.

Aislinn will embark on a four-year PhD in MIC’s Department of Geography, where she will focus on Ireland’s uninhabited offshore islands, remote places home to rare seabirds, delicate habitats and some of the country’s most unique wildlife.

Aislinn is the daughter of David and Catherine Kelly from New Inn.

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She attended Cashel Community school and studied Journalism and New Media at the University of Limerick.
As a journalist, Aislinn worked for The Nationalist, Live 95 and Newstalk before returning to college last year to study MSc in Environment, Culture and Society in Mary I.

Her research forms part of an ambitious, multi-institution project involving Mary Immaculate College, University College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast.

Working in partnership with the Commissioner of Irish Lights, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, the team will undertake detailed studies of biodiversity, habitat health and ecological change on the islands.

RESEARCH

Her research will bring her to isolated offshore islands that only a handful of people have ever been able to set foot on.
A central aim of the project is to build a clearer picture of how wildlife populations are evolving on these isolated sites, and to understand how island ecosystems can serve as early indicators of climate and biodiversity pressures.

Insights gathered are expected to inform national policy on protecting and managing Ireland’s coastal and island environments.
MIC President Professor Dermot Nestor praised this year’s scholars, saying:
“Tonight is about more than awards.
“It’s about the passion that brings our students and graduates into their chosen fields.
“Each name called tonight represents a story of effort, talent and support.”

Dr Rebecca Breen, Acting Director of MIC’s Research and Graduate School, added:
“These scholarships don’t just support individual researchers; they give space for ideas to grow, ideas that have the potential to shape policy, deepen understanding, and in many cases, change lives.”

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Aislinn’s scholarship places her among Ireland’s emerging environmental researchers as the project set to guide future conservation work on Irish islands and beyond.