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About University of Galway
About University of Galway
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Guiding Breakthrough Research at University of Galway
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Accessibility & LanguageAbout us
About us
The Palaeoenvironmental Research Unit was established in the early 1980s by Professor Michael O'Connell and originally housed within the Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences. Initially, research focused on long-term environmental change, with pollen analysis from peat and lake sediment cores as the primary method of investigation. The PRU developed over the next 25 years, expanding its palaeoenvironmental research to long-term woodland dynamics, climate change and the effects of historic and prehistoric human activity on natural ecosystems.
In 2011, the PRU was incorporated into the School of Geography, Archaeology & Irish Studies and has expanded to include specialist expertise in dendroclimatology, glacial geology, historic climatology, palaeoclimatology, palaeolimnological and palaeoceanography.
Through active national and international collaborations, prestigious research grants, a cross-disciplinary publication record, community engagement and contribution to undergraduate and postgraduate education, the PRU continues to grow and build its international reputation as a unit of research excellence and specialist knowledge for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.
Facilities
The PRU houses state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and field equipment for palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental investigation. We hold all of the necessary field equipment needed for lake sediment and peat bog coring, as well as facilities for core storage and sediment subsampling. Our laboratory facilities and broad expertise cater for the following palaeoenvironmental analyses:
- Alkalinity titrator
- Chironomid subfossil analysis
- Cosmogenic geochronology
- Dendroecology and dendroclimatology
- Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF)
- Foraminifera analysis and palaeoceanography
- Glacial geology and geomorphology
- Isotope and trace metal geochemistry of marine sediments
- Lake sediment geochemistry
- Loss-On-Ignition (LOI)
- Magnetic susceptibility
- μCT scanner
- Non-pollen palynomorphs (fungal remains)
- Palynology (fossil pollen)
- Particle size analysis
- Plant macrofossil analysis
- Rock crusher
- Sedimentological analysis
Photo credit: Dr Gordon Bromley, Dr Alessio Fabbrini, Dr Karen Molloy, Dr Audrey Morley and Dr Karen Taylor.
