Tipperary native wins incredible trip to United States with research programme

A Tipperary native has received an award at the Fulbright awards.

Mairéad O'Donnell is a PhD candidate in the Department of Botany, Trinity College Dublin.

She is a member of the European Research Council project, NovelEco.

Her research investigates the processes of co-design and urban rewilding through a social-ecological traits framework.

As a Fulbright-Environmental Protection Agency Awardee, Mairéad will be based in The New School in New York City.

During this time, she will examine co-design in-depth, working with a case study community to design an urban wild space and develop an urban rewilding framework based on the findings.

Previously, Mairéad completed an MSc. in Development Practice in Trinity College Dublin and a BSc (Hons) in Environmental and Geographical Sciences in Technological University of the Shannon.

In 2020, she was awarded the ESAI Undergraduate of the Year Award for her final-year research project.

Recently, Mairéad gained experience working as an Information Systems and Knowledge Officer with GOAL Global.

The Fulbright bilateral exchange programme has facilitated academic and cultural exchanges and strengthened Ireland-US relations since 1957.

The programme selects candidates from across Ireland to study and work in disciplines ranging from health, science, technology and business to culture, the arts and the Irish language.

Academics, professionals, students and scholars will research, study, teach and collaborate with experts at leading U.S. institutions.

From August 2024 to August 2025, Fulbright Irish scholars, students and professionals will attend institutions ranging from the University of Puerto Rico, New York University and the University of Maine to the University of Colorado Denver, The New School and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Awardees will research a range of fields including urban studies, literature, information science, public health, fine arts, political science, engineering, physics, pharmacology, journalism, and genetics.

Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants will teach the Irish language at such universities as Davidson-Davie Community College, Catholic University of America, the University of Montana, and the University of Notre Dame to name a few.

Irish awardees will serve as cultural ambassadors in the U.S. and share their knowledge, ideas and experience when they return home.