I am delighted to take up the role of Experimental Officer with responsibility for the Mary Ward Microbeam Lab.
I relocated to Cork from Glasgow, moving to UCC from the University of Glasgow where I had established and then managed the Imaging Spectroscopy and Analysis Centre (ISAAC) for material characterisation. ISAAC served a wide user base across the University and other universities, as well as a broad range of multinational and SMEs. The facility pioneered the application of Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) for biominerals and minerals and analysed samples from a vast range of areas including life sciences, geosciences, engineering and even fine art.
The Mary Ward Microbeam Laboratory is a new high-spec analytical facility that offers cross-platform options for surface analyses, including imaging surface structure at the micro- to nano-scale, bulk analysis of sample chemistry as well as chemical imaging.

Publications

• Kershaw, S., Balthasar, U., Da Silva, A-C., Seuss, B., Cusack, M., Eichenseer, K. & Chung, P., 2021. Palaeozoic stromatoporoids and chaetetids analysed using Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD); implications for original mineralogy and microstructure. Facies, 67, Article number: 8. (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-020-00618-5).
• Dempster, T. J., Coleman, S., Kennedy, R., Chung, P. and Brown, R. W., 2020. Growth zoning of garnet porphyroblasts: grain boundary and microtopographic controls. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 38(9), pp. 1011-1027 (doi: 10.1111/jmg.12558).
• Daly L., Lee M. R., Piazolo S., Griffin S., Bazargan M., Campanale F., Chung P., Cohen B. E., 2019. Boom boom pow: shock-facilitated aqueous alteration and evidence for two shock events in the Martian nakhlite meteorites. Science Advances, 5(9), eaaw5549. (doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw5549)
• Daly L., Piazolo S., Lee M. R., S. Griffin, Chung P., Campanale F., Cohen B. E., Hallis L. J., Trimby P. W., Baumgartner R., Forman L. V., Benedix G. K., 2019. Understanding the emplacement of Martian volcanic rocks using petrofabrics of the nakhlite meteorites. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 520, pp. 220-230. (doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2019.05.050)
• Dempster, T. J., Gilmour, M. I. and Chung, P., 2019. The partial equilibration of garnet porphyroblasts in pelitic schists and its control on prograde metamorphism, Glen Roy, Scotland. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 37(3), pp. 383-399. (doi: 10.1111/jmg.12467)
• Cusack, M., Chung, P., Wenzhong, Zhu & Endo, K., 2018. Tuning of calcite crystallographic orientation to support brachiopod lophophore. Advanced Engineering Materials. DOI:10.1002/adem.201800191
• Alakpa, E.V., Saeed, S., Chung, P., Riehle, M.O., Gadegaard, N., Dalby. M.J. & Cusack, M., 2018. The prismatic topography of Pinctada maxima shell retains stem cell multipotency and plasticity in vitro. Advanced Biosystems, 2, 1800012. DOI:10.1002/adbi.201800012
• Meng, Y., Fitzer, S. C., Chung, P., Li, C., Thiyagarajan, V. & Cusack, M., 2018. Crystallographic interdigitation in oyster shell folia enhances material strength. Crystal Growth & Design, 18, pp. 3753-3761. DOI:10.1021/acs.cgd.7b01481
• McCoy, S. J., Kamenos, N. A., Chung, P., Wootton, T. J. and Pfister, C. A., 2018. A mineralogical record of ocean change: decadal and centennial patterns in the California mussel. Global Change Biology, 24(6), pp. 2554-2562. (doi: 10.1111/gcb.14013) (PMID:29314468)
• Alakpa, E.V., Burgess, K. E.V., Chung, P., Riehle, M.O., Gadegaard, N., Dalby. M.J. & Cusack, M., 2017. Nacre topography produces higher crystallinity in bone than chemically induced osteogenesis. ACS Nano, 11, pp. 6717-6727.
• Dempster, T. J., La Piazza, J., Taylor, A. G., Beaudoin, N. and Chung, P., 2017. Chemical and textural equilibration of garnet during amphibolite-facies metamorphism: The influence of coupled dissolution-reprecipitation. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 35(9), pp. 1111-1130. (doi: 10.1111/jmg.12278)
• Wooldridge, L.J., Worden, R.H., Griffiths, J., Thompson, A. and Chung, P., 2017. Biofilm origin of clay-coated sand grains. Geology, 45(10), pp. 875-878. (doi: 10.1130/G39161.1)
• Dempster, T. J., Symon, S. and Chung, P., 2017.  Intergranular diffusion rates from the analysis of garnet surfaces: implications for metamorphic equilibration. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 35(6), pp. 585-600. (doi: 10.1111/jmg.12247)
• Fitzer, S.C., Chung, P., Maccherozzi, F., Dhesi, S., Kamenos, N.A., Phoenix, V.R.  & Cusack, M., 2016. Shell formation under ocean acidification: A change from order to chaos. Scientific Reports 6, 21076. DOI: 10.1038/srep06218
• Koehn, D. , Rood, M.P., Beaudoin, N. , Chung, P., Bons, P.D. and Gomez-Rivas, E., 2016. A new stylolite classification scheme to estimate compaction and local permeability variations. Sedimentary Geology, 346, pp. 60-71. (doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2016.10.007)
• Salomon, E., Koehn, D., Passchier, C., Chung, P., Haeger, T., Salvona, A. and Davis, J., 2016. Deformation and fluid flow in the Huab Basin and Etendeka Plateau, NW Namibia. Journal of Structural Geology, 88, pp. 46-62. (doi: 10.1016/j.jsg.2016.05.001)
• Fitzer, S., Chung, P., Maccherozzi, F., Dhesi, S. S., Kamenos, N. A., Phoenix, V. R. and Cusack, M., 2016. Biomineral shell formation under ocean acidification: a shift from order to chaos. Scientific Reports, 6, 21076. (doi: 10.1038/srep21076) (PMID:26876022) (PMCID:PMC4753494)
• Hanlon, J. M., Bravo Diaz, L. , Balducci, G., Stobbs, B. A., Bielewski, M., Chung, P., MacLaren, I. and Gregory, D. H., 2015. Rapid surfactant-free synthesis of Mg(OH)2 nanoplates and pseudomorphic dehydration to MgO. CrystEngComm, 30(17), pp. 5672-5679. (doi: 10.1039/C5CE00595G)
• Cusack, M. & Chung, P., 2014. Crystallographic orientation of cuttlebone shield determined by electron backscatter diffraction. JOM, 66, pp. 139-142.
• Perret, N., Alexander, A.-M., Hunter, S. M., Chung, P., Hargreaves, J. S.J. , Howe, R. F. and Keane, M. A., 2014. Synthesis, characterisation and hydrogenation performance of ternary nitride catalysts. Applied Catalysis A: General, 488, pp. 128-137. (doi: 10.1016/j.apcata.2014.09.026)
• Cusack, M. & Chung, P., 2014. Electron Backscatter Diffraction for Biomineralization. In: Biominerlization Sourcebook: Characterization of Biominerals and Biomimetic Materials. DiMasi, E. & Gower, L. B. (Eds.). p.33-44. CRC Press. ISBN 9781466518353.
• Cusack, M., Guo, D.J., Chung, P. & Kamenos, N., 2013. Biomineral repair of Abalone shell apertures. Journal of Structural Biology, 183, 165-171.
• Dempster, T.J. and Chung, P., 2014. Metamorphic zircon: tracking fluid pathways and the implications for the preservation of detrital zircon. Journal of the Geological Society, 170(4), pp. 631-639. (doi: 10.1144/jgs2012-063)
• Balthasar U., Cusack, M., Faryma, L., Chung, P., Holmer, L.E., Percival, I.G. & Popov, L.E., 2011. Relic aragonite from Ordovician-Silurian brachiopods – implications for evolution of calcification.  Geology, 39, pp. 967-970.   
• Cusack, M., Chung, P., Dauphin, Y., & Pérez-Huerta, A., 2010. Brachiopod primary layer crystallography and nanostructure. Special Papers in Palaeontology, 84, pp. 99-105.
• Freer, A., Greenwood, D., Chung, P., Pannell, C.L. & Cusack, M., 2010. Aragonite prism-nacre interface in freshwater mussels Anodonta anatina (Linnaeus, 1758) and Anodonta cygnea (L. 1758). Crystal Growth & Design, 10, pp. 344-347.
• Cusack, M., Dauphin, Y., Chung, P. Pérez-Huerta, A. & Cuif, J-P., 2009.  Multiscale structure of calcite fibres of the shell of the brachiopod Terebratulina retusa. Journal of Structural Biology. 164, pp. 96-100.
• Cusack, M., Pérez-Huerta, A., Chung, P., Parkinson, D., Dauphin, Y. & Cuif-J-P., 2009. Oxygen isotope equilibrium in brachiopod shell fibres in the context of biological control. Mineralogical Magazine, 72, pp. 245-248.
• Cusack, M., Pérez-Huerta, A., Dalbeck, P., Chung, P. and Lee, M.R., 2008. Comparison of calcite crystallographic texture in the shells of the rhynchonelliform brachiopod, Terebratulina retusa and the bivalve mollusc, Mytilus edulis. Ceramic Transactions, 201, pp. 587-593.
• Cusack, M., Dauphin, Y., Chung, P., Perez-Huerta, A. and Cuif, J.P., 2008. Multiscale structure of calcite fibres of the shell of the brachiopod Terebratulina retusa. Journal of Structural Biology, 164(1), pp. 96-100. (doi: 10.1016/j.jsb.2008.06.010).
• Cusack, M., Perez-Huerta, A., Chung, P., Parkinson, D., Dauphin, Y. and Cuif, J.P., 2008. Oxygen isotope equilibrium in brachiopod shell fibres in the context of biological control. Mineralogical Magazine, 72(1), pp. 239-242. (doi: 10.1180/minmag.2008.072.1.239)
• Hansom, J.D., Hoey, T.B. and Chung, P., 2004. Geomorphological processes in action: modelling in the classroom. Teaching Earth Sciences, 29(3), pp. 10-12.
• Hansom, J.D., Hoey, T.B. and Chung, P., 2002. Re-invigorating geomorphology in schools with the “Geomorphology Roadshow”. Journal of the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers., 31, pp. 98-101.