VentBase

The workshop will use a relaxed format to allow for communication among participants with presentations from experts in the field followed by discussion sessions. Participants will be facilitated in their exploring of the West of Ireland and their enjoyment of the famous city of the tribes, Galway City.

The number of participants is limited so please submit abstracts as soon as possible to enable us to present the most suitable programme.

For more information and to register please visit www.ventbase.org

The Ryan Institute’s GIS Centre at NUI Galway is hosting the 2012 Sino-European Symposium on Environment and Health (SESEH 2012, August 20th to 25th). This syposium provides an internationally leading platform for interaction between scientists, consultants, and public servants engaged in the multi-disciplinary areas of environment and health. The importance of environment and health is widely recognized in China, and China welcomes international experts for collaboration. This symposium provides an opportunity for a direct communication between experts from China and the rest of the world, and helps to foster and develop international collaborations with China, the 2nd largest economy of the world.

SESEH 2012 Keynote Speakers include:

Professor Ming-Hung Wong (Ming-Hong Huang), Editor-in-chief: Environmental Geochemistry and Health
Professor Shu Tao: Member of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Professor Xiaoying Zheng: Peking University
Professor Derek Clements-Croome: University of Reading
Professor Jerome Nriagu: Editor-in-chief: Science of the Total Environment
Professor William Manning: Editor-in-chief: Environmental Pollution

For more information please visit the conference website

The winner of the Vents & Reefs competition is Rebecca Farrelly from Glanmire Community College in Co. Cork.

There were so many fantastic entries it was hard indeed to pick a winner, so in the end the judges also identified second and third place winners.  Congratulations to Julie Hayes from Ursuline Secondary School in Cork for her second place entry “An Tromluí Rua” and to third place winner Alia Abouelleil from Notre Dame Secondary School in Dublin.

Second place: Julie Hayes

Third place: Alia Abouelleil

These three, and the other entries that made it into the top 10, will all be on display at next Friday’s sea2sky event (www.sea2sky.ie) in Galway.  The official prize giving ceremony will take place at 3 pm, where Rebecca’s deep-sea namesake will be unveiled!  This was a competition with a truly unique prize – and Rebecca will have a newly discovered deep-sea hydrothermal vent creature named after her.

Thanks to all who entered the Vents & Reefs competition.

This competition was part of the expedition headed out to the mid-Atlantic ridge this summer, to record and document life 3000 m below the surface at a recently discovered hydrothermal vent ecosystem.  More information can be found on the Ryan Institute’s Outreach pages.

sea2sky

This event is Ireland’s contribution to “EU Researcher’s Night”, involving 320 European cities. It is being organized by the Ryan Institute, NUI Galway’s Research Office and Centre for Astronomy, Galway Atlantaquaria, and the Marine Institute.

The event is free and open to all.  School tours will be available between 10 am and 2 pm, but must be pre-booked through Galway Atlantaquaria.

For more information on sea2sky visit www.sea2sky.ie.

Time: 12-5
Venue: Seminar Room, Orbsen Building, NUI Galway
Cost: By donation only (all proceeds to the Solar Co-Op)

Lunch is included, so you’ll walk away not only more knowledgeable but also full.

Space is limited so to book your place contact sarah.knight@nuigalway.ie

Chimney of metal sulphides in the Moytirra vent field, some 3000 metres below sea level along the volcanic Mid-Atlantic ridge

Led by UCC’s Dr. Andy Wheeler of University College, scientists from the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Southampton in the UK, NUI Galway and the Geological Survey of Ireland, spent 3 weeks at sea investigating the new ecosystem some 3,000 metres below the surface of the sea using the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Holland 1.  The expedition’s lead Marine Biologist, Patrick Collins of the Ryan Institute, is working in collaboration with Jon Copley of the University of Southampton to catalogue and characterise the species found at the vents.

“Everyone on board is proud of this Irish discovery, which we have called the ‘Moytirra Vent Field,’ said Collins. “Moytirra is the name of a battlefield in Irish mythology, and appropriately means ‘Plain of the Pillars.’  The largest chimney we have found is huge – more than ten metres tall – and we have named it ‘Balor’ after a legendary giant.  In comparison with other vent fields, Moytirra contains some monstrous chimneys and is in an unusual setting at the bottom of a cliff—a real beauty.”

“Using the ROV’s high-definition video camera, we’ve watched unusual orange-bodied shrimp crawling around the chimneys, among clusters of tiny green limpets,” said Jon Copley. “Elsewhere there are writhing scale-worms, swirling mats of bacteria and eel-like fish – a riot of life in this unlikely haven on the ocean floor.”

Speaking from the RV Celtic Explorer in Cork, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine Mr. Simon Coveney said “This work is an example of an exciting new discovery made with the Celtic Explorer and its present crew of Irish and international scientists. Through vessels like the Celtic Explorer, Irish academics and scientists can work with other international experts to explore the seabed in the Atlantic and make groundbreaking new discoveries. Ireland is positioning itself as a centre for marine research from a European and international perspective and this work should be supported and welcomed.”

Links:

Aug 4, 2011 edition of the Irish Times Volcanic vent system found in Atlantic
NUI Galway Marine Biologist Part of Major Scientific Discovery on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Marine Institute News Major Discovery on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge