Grainne Cronin O'Reilly

Name: Grainne Cronin O'Reilly

Position: Research Assistant

Supervisor/s: Shauna Creane

Office: Research Office, Top Floor, Department of Geography

Email Address: TBC

Biography

I completed my BSc in Undenominated Science in 2018 from the National University of Ireland, Galway, in which I specialised in Zoology and Botany. My undergraduate thesis studied the distribution and abundance of two calanoid copepods, Calanus helgolandicus and C. finmarchicus, in the northeastern Atlantic, and as a result I developed an extensive knowledge of copepod taxonomy. After this, I worked at Galway City Museum as part of the Marine Institute’s Sea Science internship programme. This was a public-facing role, with the main aim of increasing ocean literacy. I worked for a family-run Pacific oyster farm located in Castlemaine Harbour, Kerry, which gave me direct insight into the Irish aquaculture industry. In 2026, I completed the MSc in Applied Marine and Coastal Management from the University College Cork. For my master’s thesis, I created a coupled hydrodynamic-ecological model of phytoplankton dynamics in Castlemaine Harbour, Kerry.  

Research

I work as a research assistant for the project: ÉireOcean-TWIN: AI-Enhanced 4D Digital Twin of Ireland’s Marine and Coastal Systems. This project aims to develop Ireland’s first AI-enhanced digital twin of marine and coastal systems, creating a new capability for ocean data analytics, forecasting and decision support. It is funded by the Marine Institute, Research & Innovation Call 2025. University College of Dublin is the lead organisation with two project partners, Advanta Blue Solutions and University College Cork.