Green Campus Podcasts

We’ve started a podcast! We wanted to give you an insight into our Green Campus and those working tirelessly to make UCC, and the planet, a better place. We have interviewed a broad range of people and will be releasing a new episode every 3 weeks for your listening pleasure.

Episode 1

You can listen to our 1st episode of ‘The Green Campus Podcast’ with UCC President John O’Halloran on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at the below links.

John talks about his early career in Zoology from being a student to working on the effects of acid rain on river birds and his time in BEE’s. He talks about the history of the green campus, about the green campus motto Student Led, Research Informed and Practice Focused and what that means especially in relation to student values.

He goes through his proudest achievements and what he wants to achieve in his presidency in relation to biodiversity. He finishes by talking about the connected curriculum, how education and research is vital in delivering climate action in Ireland and globally and about the challenges facing the university in the coming years.

Spotify: Link Spotify Podcast

Apple Podcasts: Link Apple Podcast

Episode 2

You can listen to our 2nd episode of ‘The Green Campus Podcast’ with UCC Director of Buildings & Estates Mark Poland on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at the below links.

Mark talks about his role in the overall management of the physical infrastructure of the university through strategic planning, capital projects and maintenance. He talks about the setting up of the green forum and how it brings members from a vast array of disciplines together and our achievements to date in relation to green metrics.

He moves on to how we are going to meet our energy targets, the move towards renewables and the technology that will be incorporated to get us away from fossil fuels. He finishes by going through space utilization, the national development plan and how we can make our existing stock of buildings more energy efficient.

Spotify: Link here

Apple Podcasts: Link here

Episode 3

You can listen to our 3rd episode of ‘The Green Campus Podcast’ with UCC Head Gardener Jack Murphy on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at the below links.

Jack talks about his early career and how he developed a love of horticulture. He talks about the various habitats in UCC, from our tree collection that recently received arboretum status, to our gardens and flower collection. He moves on to the sustainable practices used in the grounds section and how we have eradicated the use of pesticides and herbicides.

He talks about the different types of wildflowers and pollinators on campus and how we are moving to electric tools and mowers on campus. He finishes by going through the makeup of our tree collection, how composting is reused on campus and tips for the beginner gardener.

Spotify: Link here

Apple Podcasts: Link here

Episode 4

The 4th installment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to UCC student Timothy McGrath.

It is available to listen to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at the below links.

Timothy talks about how he first got interested in sustainability and the environment. He talks about his role in Enactas, using the power of entrepreneurial action. He moves on to talk about how precious plastics globally and in UCC are helping to reduce plastic waste, through recycling, biodegradable materials and zero waste lifestyles. He talks about how there is now a UCC precious plastics workshop to start making products from rulers to coasters.

Following on from this Timothy talks about setting up ReFRAME where they will be reusing plastic to make skateboards, longboards and moving up to bicycles. He finishes by talking about making UCC a recycling hub and how education and community involvement is key to dealing with the problem of plastic waste.

Spotify: Link here

Apple Podcasts: Link here

Episode 5

The 5th installment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to UCC Director of IT Services Gerard Cully. It is available to listen to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at the below links.

Gerard talks his early background and his role as Director of IT services. He outlines the carbon footprint of UCC’s IT infrastructure in relation to cloud services, data storage and the energy savings achieved. He talks about the circular economy and how IT recycles its hardware infrastructure both in donating to local charities and recycling the hardware with local organisations. He moves on to talk about what is being done to make IT services more energy efficient and how the Covid pandemic has impacted remote working in UCC. He then talks about how server virtualization is being used to lessen the impact of physical servers on campus by reducing the number of servers by up to 95%.

He moves on to how sustainability factors into IT today and how strategic planning and sustainability are being incorporated into procurement practices and purchasing policy. He talks about how we use the Irish environment to cool our data centers. He finishes by talking about how we can use the data IT produces to design a better campus experience.

Spotify: Link here

Apple Podcasts: Link here

Episode 6

The 6th installment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to UCC Lecturer in Applied Psychology Dr. Annalisa Setti. It is available to listen to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at the below links.

Annalisa talks about the benefits of nature for your attention, your stress levels and how it increases vitality. She moves on to how the Covid pandemic has affected people’s relationship with nature. She talks about collaboration with the University of Bologna to capture people’s relationships with nature and to capture ideas on new green spaces and how we can improve existing ones.

She talks about the planning of green spaces and her involvement in Go Green Roots, an EU funded, and Irish based project looking at making green areas more accessible in European cities. She finishes by talking about “Success It’s in Our Nature”, an initiative between Annalisa, Graduate Attributes and Green Campus. It showcases all the ways students and staff can engage with nature on our campus to relieve stress at exam time, to enhance mental and physical health and wellbeing, enhance their academic and personal success and build their graduate attributes and values.

Spotify: Link here

Apple Podcasts: Link here

Episode 7

Fáilte ar ais go dtí an Campus Glas podchraoladh! The 7th installment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to climate activist, language student, and Gaeilgeoir, Síofra Nic Risteaird. It is available to listen to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at the below links.

Tá Seachtain na Gaeilge anseo, agus in onóir na hócáide, bímid ag caint faoin nasc idir ár dteanga agus an timpeallacht. In honour of Seachtain na Gaeilge, we’re discussing the connection between our language and the environment. Síofra has been a part of the environmental movement in UCC since 2017. She talks about how she first got involved with climate activism and her experiences with UCC Environmental Society and UCC Green Campus. She moves on to tell about her relationship with the Irish language and how her studies have helped her understand the significance of linguistics to our history, culture, and natural environment.

During this episode, Síofra tells us about environmental communication and the role that Irish could play in communicating the importance of climate action. Finally, Síofra tells us about some of the resources that are available to people who want to start learning Irish or who want to find ways to practice their cúpla focail.

Spotify: Link here

Apple Podcasts: Link here

Episode 8

The 8th installment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to Dr. Hannah Daly, lecturer and researcher in energy, economy, environment and engineering systems in UCC.

Hannah begins by telling us about her time studying in UCC and her experience as the Agency Lead on Energy Access and SDG7 collaboration in the International Energy Agency in Paris. She moves on to give us an overview of sustainable energy modeling systems and what these models work to achieve.

She talks about the intensification of the agriculture industry in Ireland and the practical and societal difficulties associated with creating a sustainable agriculture model. She moves on to discuss the potential for district heating in Ireland and how that can play a role in a collective solution to decarbonising our heating systems.

Hannah discusses LNG in Ireland and how we should be striving to transition away from natural gas as quickly as possible to sustainable energy and removing barriers to offshore wind and solar panels. She finishes by talking about the need to improve our public infrastructure to help create cleaner cities and improve sustainable transport methods.

Spotify: Link here

Apple Podcasts: Link here

Episode 9

The 9th installment of the UCC Green Campus podcast is now available where we talk to facilitator, coach, and celebrant Melanie O’Driscoll.

Melanie begins by telling us about her journey from studying zoology to acting as a facilitator with The Green Step, and training as an interfaith minister. She moves on to talk about what eco-grief and climate anxiety means and how it can impact a person's well-being and tells us the importance of strong community links when tackling climate issues.

She goes through what her ‘Self Care is Climate Care’ workshops entail, which are run monthly through UCC Green Campus. She talks about how she works to create shared experiences in this space to help people express their emotions and increase their climate resilience.

If you are interested in attending the next Self Care is Climate Care workshop click here

Spotify: Link here

Apple Podcasts: Link here