As the new academic year begins at NUI Galway, two new researchers, Emma Tarpey and Kelly Fitzhenry have began work on the DairyWater Project. The research tasks, which they are undertaking within the project, is to provide the main focus of their PhD study. The following are the biographies of the two researchers:

Emma Tarpey

Emma graduated from the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2012 with an Honours Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering. She was awarded a Dell/SFI scholarship for Women in Engineering and completed a research internship in the University of Limerick as part of this. During her degree she studied environmental engineering, and completed projects on the operation of water and wastewater treatment plants.  She spent two years working for Accenture as a Systems Analyst, on a variety of projects including tender preparation and research.  She is currently completing her PhD on Wastewater Treatment in the Dairy Processing industry in NUI Galway, under the supervision of Professor Xinmin Zhan.

Kelly Fitzhenry

Kelly completed her diploma in Applied Aquatic Science in Galway – Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Galway before transferring to the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. There, she graduated with an Honours Bachelor Degree in Zoology. In 2012, she was hired as a Research Assistant on the EPA STRIVE funded project ‘The Effect of the Wastewater Treatment Process, In Particular UV Treatment on Pathogenic Virus Removal’ in collaboration with NUI, Galway and the Marine Institute. Throughout her time working on this project, she also obtained a Masters Degree of Applied Science in relation to the study topic. She is currently carrying out a PhD in NUI, Galway under the supervision of Dr. Eoghan Clifford and Dr. Neil Rowan (Athlone IT) on ‘Water Reuse and Rainwater Harvesting for the Dairy Industry’.