Environment - News & Events | Trinity College Dublin

Why rural Ireland holds the key to transport decarbonisation

Recent research conducted through a collaboration between the Schools of Physics and Engineering, and published in the journal Sustainable Energy, Grids and Networks, explores decarbonisation of transport, and the particular challenges that exist in Ireland due to our population density and geography.

31 Mar 2026

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Seashell saviours – Trinity team finds discarded oyster shells can clean polluted water by removing "rare earths"

New research from a team at Trinity College Dublin has unearthed a cheap and environmentally friendly new option for removing pollutants from our water. The key? Oyster shells that would ordinarily end up in landfill sites after consumption.

26 Mar 2026

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Why are there no gigantic dragonflies terrorising the skies today?

Gigantic dragonfly-like insects – the “griffinflies” – ruled the skies around 300 million years ago, but they have long been consigned to evolution’s graveyard.

25 Mar 2026

Environment|Research|Science

Trinity team delivers new universal design guidelines for long-term residential care settings

Researchers from Trinity recently launched new universal design guidelines to enhance quality of life, sustainability, and resilience in long-term residential care settings for older people in Ireland.

3 Mar 2026

Community|Environment|Health|Research|Sustainability

Trinity-ADAPT team’s AI-enhanced, maritime vessel detection system wins Research Ireland's Defence Innovation Challenge

Researchers from Trinity and the ADAPT Research Ireland Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology won the Maritime Situational Awareness Challenge after creating a system that will strengthen Ireland’s naval security.

25 Feb 2026

Awards and Funding|Environment|Innovation|Research|Science

Some animals “see the world" more quickly than others

From dragonflies to starfish, new Trinity research shows that the speed of visual perception across the animal kingdom is driven by lifestyle and environment, with fast-paced lives demanding faster vision.

24 Feb 2026

Environment|Research|Science

Endangered marine life is being caught in fishing nets, but it doesn’t need to be

Dr Nicholas Payne from Trinity's School of Natural Sciences co-authored this piece for The Conversation, following a new four-year study from Ireland’s national Marine Institute which highlights the particular problem tangle nets are causing in Ireland.

19 Feb 2026

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Trinity College Dublin to become vape-free campus

Trinity will become a tobacco and e-cigarettes free campus from 18th March 2026 onwards.

18 Feb 2026

Community|Environment|Society|Sustainability

Professor Yvonne Buckley honoured with Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal

Professor Buckley, a world leader in plant and animal population biology, has been honoured with the 2026 Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal in the Environmental Sciences, Geography and Geosciences.

12 Feb 2026

Awards and Funding|Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Trinity formally endorses Fossil Fuel Treaty

Trinity has formally joined the global network calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty, following approval by the Environment and Sustainability Principal Committee of Board.

11 Feb 2026

Environment|Sustainability

Good for the land, but what about the farmer? New research outlines how Agri-Environment Schemes impact mental health

Trinity research shows that depending on how schemes are designed and delivered, wellbeing impacts can be positive or negative. Time spent in nature and peer discussion groups are key to fostering positive wellbeing outcomes.

5 Feb 2026

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Minister O'Brien visits Trinity College Dublin SAF Research Facility at SMBC Aviation Capital Headquarters

Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien visited the Trinity College Dublin Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Research Facility at SMBC Aviation Capital's headquarters in Dublin earlier this week.

21 Jan 2026

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

€6.5 million PEACE-Air project to improve air quality

Researchers from Trinity are working with collaborators across the island of Ireland on a major cross-border initiative to improve air quality.

20 Jan 2026

Environment|Health|Research|Science

SEAGROW project to advance sustainable seaweed cultivation and ecosystem restoration across EU waters

Europe is backing a new flagship initiative to help scale sustainable seaweed cultivation while strengthening marine ecosystems across European waters.

17 Jan 2026

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Water erosion contributes to generation of micro and nanoplastics linked to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases

A team of scientists, led by researchers from the AMBER Research Ireland Centre in Trinity, has determined that microbubble-induced erosion releases micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) into water.

16 Jan 2026

Environment|Health|Research|Science

EU team to detect earthquakes and infrastructure damage using internet cables

Researchers have begun a new €5 million EU-funded project that will allow fibre optic cable lines under our roads, fields and seas to double up as sensors that spot earthquakes and infrastructure damage, monitor traffic, and detect changes in the natural environment.

22 Dec 2025

Awards and Funding|Environment|Innovation|Research|Science

Growing a mix of plants in fields can save farmers money and help the environment

Prof. Caroline Brophy, writing for The Conversation, outlines the positive implications of landmark research conducted across geographical scales.

15 Dec 2025

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Increasing plant diversity in agricultural grasslands boosts yields, reducing reliance on fertiliser

Higher plant diversity in agricultural grasslands increases yields with lower inputs of nitrogen fertiliser. That is the headline finding of a landmark, international study led by Trinity that paints a promising picture for more sustainable agriculture.

4 Dec 2025

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

A fish-friendly innovation that could turn river barriers into green power stations

Researchers from Trinity and UCD have designed and road – or “river” – tested a new barrier modification system that enables fish to travel up and downstream while simultaneously generating green energy for local consumption.

25 Nov 2025

Environment|Innovation|Research|Science|Sustainability

Trinity places 29th in world in 2026 QS sustainability ranking

Trinity’s Vice-President for Biodiversity and Climate Action Jane Stout said: “There are now a huge number of people across the whole university working towards a shared vision for a better future, including our student body, colleagues in Estates and Facilities, Academic Practice, the Library, Catering, the Health Service, as well as the academic schools. We can be proud of what we have achieved so far."

18 Nov 2025

Environment|Health|Society|Students|Sustainability

Trinity student delegates attend COP30 in Belém

Two delegates will represent Trinity at the 2025 United Nation Climate Change Conference (COP30), taking place in Belém, Brazil from 10-21 November. Trinity Sustainability gained observer status to the conference in 2023 and was allocated two in-person delegates and ten virtual delegates for 2025. Trinity’s representatives will access seminars, panels and networking opportunities, but not the negotiations.

10 Nov 2025

Community|Environment|Society|Students|Sustainability

Trinity launches Climate Gateway to build momentum for a resilient future

Professor of Climate Science Karen Wiltshire has spearheaded the Climate Gateway, which is designed to inform policy, develop innovative solutions, and build shared accountability. Anyone interested is encouraged to visit the Climate Gateway website and get involved.

4 Nov 2025

We’ve done the science — let’s get on with climate action

Marking the launch of Trinity's Climate Gateway, Professor Karen Wiltshire issues a call to action: "This is no longer about whether climate change is real. It’s about how we adapt and how we mitigate — decisively, collectively, and intelligently."

3 Nov 2025

Community|Environment

Marine scientists aim to restore native flat oyster reefs around the coast

Researchers from Trinity are collaborating on a new €1.5 million all-island project, funded by the Marine Institute, to restore native flat oyster reefs and enhance coastal resilience.

24 Oct 2025

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

What goes up must come down – scientists unearth “universal thermal performance curve” that shackles evolution

This “UTPC" seemingly applies to all species and dictates their responses to temperature change. It essentially “shackles evolution” as no species seem to have broken free from the constraints it imposes on how temperature affects performance.

21 Oct 2025

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Trinity researcher contributes to landmark European Cancer Prevention Code

Professor Quentin Crowley, from the Discipline of Geology in Trinity’s School of Natural Sciences, has contributed to the fifth edition of the European Code Against Cancer (ECAC5), which officially launched this weekend at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Berlin.

20 Oct 2025

Environment|Health|Research|Science

Professor Karen Wiltshire wins 2025 A.G. Huntsman Medal

Prof. Wiltshire, a marine ecologist and climate scientist from Trinity’s School of Natural Sciences, was honoured for her innovative and interdisciplinary research in climate science, and for her significant contribution to international organisations, which has built capacity and brought new voices into the marine sciences.

16 Oct 2025

Awards and Funding|Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Irish buff-tailed bumblebees are genetically distinct from their British counterparts

The news that our native bees are cut from a different cloth has important implications for conservation practices and may also inform the way imported commercial populations are managed.

15 Oct 2025

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Imagine if Ireland could lay rail tracks as quickly as it builds roads

Now Metrolink is going ahead, what’s the next rail project for Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway?

9 Oct 2025

Community|Environment

The EU’s 10% natural habitat target is insufficient for pollinator recovery

Bees, butterflies and other insects have too little natural habitat around them to survive, according to a new study published in leading international journal Science.

26 Sep 2025

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability