Sustainability is a key principle of Queen’s University Belfast’s Social Charter, and we are home to a broad range of teaching, research and practical action, across the whole institution. This page presents a selection of Queen’s sustainability experts.
Professor David Rooney
David Rooney is a Professor of Chemical Engineering in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast. His research focuses on energy generation and materials and he is the Director of the Sustainable Energy Research Group at Queen’s and Director of the Bryden Centre, a cross-border renewable research centre.
He works with oil and gas companies, regional industry and government to advise on Zero Carbon technologies. He has also had research links with China over the last two decades.
Contact: d.rooney@qub.ac.uk
Full academic profile: Professor David Rooney
Professor Jennifer McKinley
Jennifer McKinley is a Professor of Geography in the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen’s. Her research focuses on the application of spatial analysis techniques, including geostatistics, compositional data analysis and Geographical Information Science (GIS), to soil geochemistry, environmental and criminal forensics, human health, and other areas.
She has recently co-authored a paper on an integrated geospatial approach to repurposing wind turbine blades as they come to the end of their life in commercial wind farms.
Contact: j.mckinley@qub.ac.uk
Full academic profile: Professor Jennifer McKinley
Professor Mark Emmerson
Professor Emmerson’s work examines the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, the drivers of biodiversity change and the consequences of biodiversity loss for ecosystem stability.
He has recently co-authored papers on the contributions of individual species to the stability of ecosystems; quantifying large-scale ecosystem stability with remote sensing data; the impact of agricultural intensification on plant diversity; and the ecological impacts of environmental stress on coastal bacteria.
Contact: m.emmerson@qub.ac.uk
Full academic profile: Professor Mark Emmerson
Professor Juliana Early
Juliana Early is a Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Her research is focussed on clean propulsion technologies and understanding the transition pathways to clean transportation systems.
She is the Principle Investigator on a range of EPSRC, Innovate-UK and APC collaborative programmes examining the role and wider impacts of electrification and hydrogen technologies in public transport systems including Innovate-UK Next Generation Battery Electric Vehicle, EPSRC Roadmaps to Zero Net Emissions in Urban Public Transport and APC funded NextGen Fuel-Cell Electric Buses to Accelerate a Low-Carbon Hydrogen Economy.
Contact: j.early@qub.ac.uk
Full academic profile: Professor Juliana Early
Dr Simon Murray
Dr Murray is Project & Commercialisation Manager at the Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy (CASE).
CASE is an industry-led sustainable energy research centre hosted at Queen’s, and focussing on bioenergy, marine renewable energy, and energy systems. The CASE team have led on projects involving partnerships with business in converting biomass to energy; connecting renewable energy to the grid; and in novel tidal turbines tested in Strangford Lough.
Contact: s.murray@qub.ac.uk
Dr Aoife Foley
Dr Foley is a Reader in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Her research interests cover wind power integration, power and gas systems and transport electrification, looking at turbine performance, life cycle analysis, wind power forecasting, unit commitment modelling, power from biogas, levelised cost of energy, demand response using intelligent ICT, energy storage, microgrids and electric vehicles, battery modelling and drive cycle analysis.
She is Editor in Chief of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, and is interested in the global sustainable energy transition, smart cities and transport systems.
Contact: a.foley@qub.ac.uk
Full academic profile: Dr Aoife Foley
Professor Geraint Ellis
Prof Ellis is Chair of Environmental Planning in the School of Natural and Built Environment. His key research interests are in planning and sustainability, renewable energy, planning governance and healthy urban planning. He has published widely on these topics and is a Co-Editor of the Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, as well as a founding member of the Editorial Board of the new Routledge journal, Cities and Health.
In this role he is leading an initiative thinking about future impacts of COVID and other pandemics on cities.
Contact: g.ellis@qub.ac.uk
Full academic profile: Prof G Ellis
Professor John Barry
John Barry is Professor of Green Political Economy at Queen’s. His research interests include climate change policy and politics; post-growth economics and theory; civic republicanism; gender, class and environmental justice; and environmental ethics.
He is Co-Director of the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action at Queens, and co-chair of the Belfast Climate Commission. He is a Co-Investigator on the Place-based Climate Action Network (PCAN), for whom he also co-hosts a podcast.
Contact: j.barry@qub.ac.uk
Full academic profile: Prof John Barry
Dr Amanda Slevin
Dr Slevin’s research centres on anthropogenic climate change; multi-level climate action; social inequalities, energy conflicts and just transition; sustainability praxis; policy frameworks, decision-making and practices surrounding climate action and hydrocarbon extraction.
She is Co-Director of the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action at Queens, co-established and supports development of Belfast Climate Commission and its working groups, and is a Policy Fellow with PCAN.
Contact: a.slevin@qub.ac.uk
Full academic profile: Dr Amanda Slevin
MORE QUEEN'S SUSTAINABILITY EXPERTS
| NAME | SCHOOL | EXPERTISE |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Robert Best | EEECS | Energy, power and intelligent control |
| Dr Siobhan Cox | NBE | Contaminated Sites |
| Dr Rory Doherty | NBE | Circular economy |
| Dr Peter Doran | Law | Wellbeing economy, rights of nature |
| Dr Wesley Flannery | NBE | Coastal and marine governance; climate change |
| Dr Nuala Flood | NBE | Climate Change adaptation of the built environment |
| Dr Raymond Flynn | NBE | Environmental microbiology |
| Dr Viviane Gravey | HAPP | Environmental policy (EU/Brexit) |
| Dr Nicole Gui | CCE | Hydrogen production |
| Dr Ruth Hunter | NBE | Urban environment, public health |
| Dr John Karamichas | SSESW | Environmental justice |
| Dr Madjid Karimirad | NBE | Off-shore wind turbines |
| Professor Greg Keeffe | NBE | Sustainable cities |
| Dr Christina Kelly | NBE | Maritime ecosystem sustainability |
| Dr Karen Kerr | SSESW | Environmental education |
| Dr Sun in Kim | MAE | Optimisation in energy and power systems |
| Dr Louise Kregting | NBE | Environmental impacts of marine renewables |
| Dr Xueqin Liu | EEECS | Smart grids |
| Professor Alberto Longo | IGFS | Environmental valuation, agri-food |
| Dr Haresh Manyar | CCE | Green Chemistry |
| Dr Agustina Martire | NBE | Active transport |
| Dr Geoffrey McCullough | MAE | Catalyst modelling; engine emissions reduction |
| Professor Sean McLoone | EEECS | Energy, power and intelligent control |
| Dr Donal Mullan | NBE | Climate change scenarios |
| Dr Andrew Newton | NBE | Carbon capture and storage |
| Professor Diarmuid O'Donovan | MHLS | Environmental health |
| Dr Ulrich Ofterdinger | NBE | Environmental health |
| Professor Peter Robertson | CCE | Photocatalysis, solar energy |
| Professor Helen Roe | NBE | Wetlands and coastal environments |
| Dr Hiroki Shin | HAPP | History of energy, transport and environment |
| Dr Beatrice Smyth | MAE | Clean energies, circular economy |
| Dr Laura Steele | QMS | Business Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability |
| Professor Gosia Swadzba-Kwasny | CCE | Green and sustainable chemistry |
| Dr Graeme Swindles | NBE | Earth system science, climate change |
| Dr Jelena Vlajic | QMS | Circular Economy |