Dr. Caroline GilleranStephens

As a lecturer in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Animal Health at Dundalk Institute of Technology I have been involved in the teaching and development of a number of postgraduate and undergraduate agricultural and environmental programmes at DkIT and I am the Programme Director for the MSc in Agricultural Biotechnology. I am actively involved in research as a principal investigator in the Centre for Freshwater and Environmental Studies, where I enjoy supervising several undergraduate and postgraduate research projects.

MA in learning and Teaching (Dundalk Insitute of Technology, 2020)
PhD in Biotechnology (National University of Ireland Galway,  2004)
BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry (National University of Ireland Galway, 2000)

My research interests include the impact of microplastic contamination on freshwater and terrestrial environments and investigating societal change through environmental education.  I am passionate about bringing science to schools and co-ordinate the SFI funded Cell Explorers programme for the North-East region along with my colleague Dr. Suzanne Linnane. We promote STEM education through the science outreach programmes Cell Explorers and H2O Heroes and engage with approximately 800-1,000 primary school children each year. I am actively involved in Science Week, Scifest, World Water Monitoring Day and Pint of Science.