Lecture Program – Sat 25th Jan

Speakers

Jemima O’Farrell

‘Turning the Lens Around: How Satellites Help Us Understand and Protect Our Planet’

Bio: 

Jemima O’Farrell is a researcher at the University of Galway with a background in astrophysics and a passion for understanding our world through data. She began her academic journey studying astronomical transients in Messier-22, looking outward to explore the mysteries of space. Since graduating, she has shifted her focus back to Earth, using satellites to address critical challenges here at home. Jemima is currently working on TAPAS, a project combining satellite data and AI to monitor how environmental changes impact global communities and their resilience to climate change. She specialises in applying AI and machine learning to Earth Observation data, providing valuable insights that support environmental conservation, food security, and climate risk reduction.

Dr Deirdre Coffey

“Star Formation: What Have Jets Ever Done for Us?”

Bio:

Dr Deirdre Coffey is Associate Professor of Astrophysics and Space Science at the UCD School of Physics. Her research interests are in the field of star and planet formation, using world-class telescopes of the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory.

Dr Coffey earned her PhD at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), which she followed with five years of post-doc experience based at Arcetri Observatory in Florence, Italy, and also at DIAS. She joined UCD in 2012. Her research interests are in the area of star and planet formation. Currently, she is National Program Manager for the European Space Agency’s upcoming space mission ‘Ariel’ to probe exoplanet atmospheres; she is Chair of the Astronomical Society of Ireland; and committee member of the Institute of Physics in Ireland, as well as the Royal Irish Academy’s Physical, Chemical and Mathematical Sciences Committee.

Hans Huybrighs

“20,000 Leagues Under an Alien Ocean”

Bio:

Hans Huybrighs is working as a Research Fellow at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. His research focuses on the moons of the outer planets of our solar system. Some of these moons might harbour an underground ocean where life could exist. In some cases, they are covered in (cryo) volcanoes. His goal is to advance our understanding of these fascinating moons and how they interact with the magnetospheres (“magnetic bubbles”) that surround their planets. Hans analyses data from particle detectors on spacecraft and develops computer models to interpret those data. He is involved in the European Space Agency’s JUpiter ICy moon Explorer (JUICE), which carries a whole suite of particle detectors.

Previously he was based at the Space and Planetary Science Center, Khalifa University (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and at the European Space Agency (ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands). He received his PhD from the Technical University of Braunschweig for work conducted at the Max Planck Institute of Solar System Research (Göttingen, Germany) and the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (Kiruna). Hans has a MSc degree in Aerospace Engineering from Delft University of Technology.

Anthony Murphy

‘Ireland’s Ancient Astronomers: Stars, Stones and Stories’

Bio:

Anthony Murphy is an author, journalist, photographer, citizen archaeologist and astronomer who has published ten books about the ancient monuments of Ireland and their associated myths and legends and astronomical alignments. He has curated the Mythical Ireland website (www.mythicalireland.com) since the year 2000, and runs associated social media channels. He hosts a weekly livestream called Live Irish Myths. In 2018, he discovered the subsurface remnants of what is likely to be a Late Neolithic Timber Henge close to Newgrange, dubbed ‘Dronehenge. In 2021, he found a number of ancient dugout boats in the River Boyne in Drogheda. He has also found several hundred previously unrecorded monuments in satellite imagery of Ireland on Google Earth and Apple Maps. He lives in Drogheda with his wife Ann and their five children.