Dr
Valerie
McCarthy
Academic biography
I am Assistant Professor in Ecology and Biodiversity in the School of History and Geography, DCU. I was previously Director of the Centre for Freshwater and Environmental Studies (CFES) at Dundalk Institute of Technology and Program Director for the BSc (Hons) in Environmental Bioscience program at DkIT. I received a PhD in Freshwater Ecology from Trinity College Dublin, where my research focused on investigating the impacts of elemental limitation in zooplankton food on zooplankton community structure and pelagic trophic interactions. My research interests encompass community and ecosystem ecology in freshwater systems, investigating the linkages between aquatic systems and their catchments, with a particular focus on ecological stoichiometry.
Research interests
My research interests are concerned with theoretical community and ecosystem ecology and nutrient dynamics in freshwater systems with a particular focus on ecological stoichiometry. My current work investigates how lake and wetland systems respond to perturbations arising both directly and indirectly from human induced impacts such as nutrient loading and climate change. I am also interested in the use of high frequency and remote sensing technologies to monitor surface water quality.