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School of BEES awards 2025

21 Nov 2025
Recipients of BEES undergraduate student awards along with Head of School, Prof. Tony Knights

A range of awards were presented at the recent School of BEES prizegiving event. The awards celebrate academic excellence across the BEES undergraduate student community. 

The prizes were presented to students who excelled in their various disciplines during their time as an undergraduate at BEES. The following awards were presented at the event:

Prize

Discipline(s)

Recipient 

Thorley Sweetman Prize

Awarded to the BSc (Hons) mapping project awarded the highest marks in the final Honours examination

Geology

Katelyn Hosford

Final year project:  The geology of Melmore Head, Co. Donegal

Supervisor: Dr John Reavy

Lord Mayor’s Perpetual Trophy

Awarded to the top-ranking Environmental Science graduate on first attempt

Environmental Science

Lauren O'Connell

Final year project: Implementation of a simple correction of PM2.5 and NO2 measurements from a low-cost sensor to assess air quality in Enniscorthy 

Supervisor: Dr Stig Helleburst

Rising Star Award

Awarded to the most improved BEES student from Year 2 to Year 3

 

Plant Science

Student: Laoise O'Brien

Butler Prize

Awarded to the top-ranking Plant Science graduate on first attempt

Plant Science

Thomas Hartery 

Final year project:  In Vitro Propagation and Phytochemical Analysis: Optimising Cannabis sativa L. Micropropagation and Secondary Metabolite Production

Supervisor: Dr Barbara Doyle Prestwich

Maire Mulcahy Prize

Awarded to the best overall final year Zoology student

 

Zoology

Mary (Molly) Kennedy

Final year project:   Investigating The Impact of the 2022 Outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 on Black Legged Kittiwakes Rissa Tridactyla Using Seabird Monitoring Cameras Across Their Northeast Atlantic Range

Supervisor: Dr Mark Jessopp

Clive Hutchinson Prize

Awarded to best overall final year project in avian research within UCC

Zoology

Adèle Vicassiau,

Final year project: The genetic distinctiveness and variability of the Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) in Ireland relative to other European populations

Supervisor: Dr Tom Reed and Dr Eileen Dillane

O’Rourke Prize

Awarded to the top ranking Zoology student in third year on first attempt

Zoology

Corinna Schellander

O’Donnell Environmental 4th year Ecology student of the year

Awarded to the top ranking final year EEB student 

Ecology

Sara Goldschmidt

Final year project: Impacts of sound on plant growth and secondary metabolite production

Supervisor: Dr Barbara Doyle Prestwich

 

O’Donnell Environmental 3rd year Ecology student of the year

Awarded to the top ranking 3rd year EEB student

Ecology

Student: Darragh Hennessy

 

     

 

About the School of BEES undergraduate prizes:

The Lord Mayor's Perpetual Trophy award is sponsored by Fehily Timony and Company.

The Butler Prize is presented in honour of Sir Edwin John Butler, UCC graduate, noted plant pathologist and founding director of the Imperial Bureau of Mycology.
The Mulcahy Prize is awarded in honour of Prof. Maire Mulcahy, former Professor of Zoology at UCC and the first female Professor of Zoology at the university.
The O'Rourke Prize is awarded in honour of Prof. Fergus O'Rourke who served as Chair of Zoology at University College Cork from 1954 to 1982.

The Clive Hutchinson Prize is awarded in honour of Clive D. Hutchinson, a renowned Irish ornithologist.

The late Dr. Thorley Sweetman was a postgraduate student and subsequently a staff member of the Department of Geology from 1979 to 1989. To mark his significant contribution to the department, his family, colleagues and students have provided for an annual prize for the best BSc (Hons) Geology mapping project.

The O'Donnell Environmental Prizes are presented to the best 3rd and 4th year BSc Ecology and Environmental Biology students and are generously supported by O'Donnell Environmental. 

School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences

An Scoil Eolaíochtaí Bitheolaíocha, Domhaneolaíocha agus Comhshaoil

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