EST Student Life
Field trips
Students on the EST field trip 2024
Studying environmental science offers valuable insights into the natural world and the critical challenges it faces. It equips students with knowledge on how ecosystems function, the impact of human activity, and sustainable practices to mitigate harm. Understanding environmental science fosters skills in problem-solving and analytical thinking, allowing individuals to address pressing issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Careers in this field are diverse, spanning conservation, policy-making, and renewable energy sectors. Ultimately, environmental science empowers people to make informed decisions and advocate for a healthier planet, contributing to a sustainable future for all living organisms.
Dr Brian Kelleher and Dr Eamon Doyle
The EST class have been going on field trips for years, building up incredible connections across Ireland, including Dr Eamon Doyle, geologist for the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark (below). Eamon elegantly explains the geology of the Burren and how we can find clues about past climate change in the limestone. He does this in sun, rain and snow. Each year is different, and Eamon’s deep understanding of the Burren allows the class to learn from each visit. In 2023, the EST class gifted Eamon with a UVA lamp which can be used to explore for minerals in fossils that fluoresce in ultraviolet light, making them glow in
different colours and easier to see!
Hands on experience
Undergraduate labs in full swing in DCU
EST students are exposed to practical aspects of chemistry, microbiology, biology and physics through laboratory modules. For example, for a second year laboratory in environmental chemistry, the class samples and analyses water from the River Tolka in Dublin to assess water status. We now have over ten years of data on the quality of water in the Tolka. In a separate laboratory, students are exposed to the biology in water courses and how population dynamics can help assess the quality of a water body.
Making a difference
Helen Burke - EST graduate
Students in the EST programme get the chance to work alongside researchers in the School of Chemical Sciences to understand and work to solve significant problems in the field of environmental science.
In 2021/2022, Helen Burke, a graduate of the EST programme, won the Environmental Sciences association of Ireland (ESAI) ‘ESAI Undergraduate of the Year Award’. This award recognizes students who have excelled in the area of environmental research at undergraduate level.
Working with the community
2024 EST field trip with Trinity Comprehensive School, Ballymun.
EST1 and EST2 students work with Vincent Hooper and Brian Kelleher, staff within the school, on outreach activities as part of their degree. This involves introducing a class of second year students from Trinity Comprehensive School, Ballymun (TCB) to the concept of seashore ecology and environmental monitoring with a strong emphasis on the “teach to learn” concept. The school pupils are encouraged to learn by participation in a field study of a purpose-chosen seashore location (Sutton Seashore).
A very important component of this initiative is that the secondary pupils are taught by our EST1 and EST2 students! The TCB pupils are invited into the School of Chemical Sciences, DCU on a selected date where they receive structured and tailored tuition from our EST class and mentors. This brief but informative lecture series precedes the field study and lays the foundation for a successful seashore investigation.
2022 TCB field trip photo
The project has three main aims:
1. Promote science through field work. Introduce students to basic ecological concepts.
2. Promote the concept of “teach to learn” among our students. By exposing the ESH students to teaching it opens up another dimension in learning.
3. Allow the secondary students to see that third level is not inaccessible.
