Leagan Gaeilge   Text Version   Display: Zoom (-) (+)   View ( Normal High contrast ) Printer Friendly  A to Z  Sitemap

microbiology --> people --> academic Staff

Professor Vincent O'Flaherty

Head of Microbiology, Established Professor

• Research Group Leader, Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Dept. of Microbiology, NUI, Galway
   
  
• Director, Energy Research Centre, Environmental Change Institute (ECI), NUI, Galway

Contact
Department of Microbiology

NUI, Galway
University Road
Galway
Phone: 353 91 493734 (Ext 3734)
Fax: 353 91 494598

For general inquiries email:  Microbiologynuigalway.ie

Email:  vincent.oflahertynuigalway.ie

Memberships & Distinctions

• Member of the International Society for Microbial Ecology; International Water Association; founding member of the Irish Bioenergy Association.

• Visiting Lecturer in Wastewater Treatment Microbiology at the Central European University (CEU), Budapest, Hungary.

• External Examiner - IT Carlow, University of Cadiz, Spain; University of Uppsala, Sweden (PhD); University of Lodz, Poland (M.Sc)

• International Expert Evaluator for Swiss National Science Foundation (EURYI Award)

• Member if the Industry Research and Commercialisation Committee (Enterprise Ireland)

• Member of Comhar, the Sustainable Development Council (Royal Irish Academy Nominee)

Reviewer for the following Journals

Applied and Environmental Microbiology; FEMS Microbiology Ecology; Microbiology – SGM; Biotechnology Progress; Water Research Biodegradation; Journal of Applied Microbiology; Journal of Biotechnology; Enzyme and Microbial Technology; Water, Air and Soil Pollution; Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology; Environmental Technology; Re-Views in Environmental Science and Bio-Technology; Biotechnology Progress; Water Science and Technology.

Research Interests

Prof. O’Flaherty has 17 years experience in the area of anaerobic biofilm and microbial ecology research, focused on: anaerobic biofilm reactor technology for biorefining, energy production and wastewater treatment; and the microbial ecology of anaerobic biofilms and soil ecosystems. He has successfully and consistently secured research funding from Irish and EU programmes to a total value of €7.1m, from sources including the Irish Environmental Protection Agency, the Higher Education Authority, Enterprise Ireland, EU FP5 and FP6 Programmes, and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology. He is a Science Foundation Ireland Investigator Fellow and has published over 200 scientific communications, including 55 papers in international, peer-reviewed journals.

Prof. O’Flaherty is a leading researcher in the newly established Bioenergy and Biorefining Competence Centre, funded by Enterprise Ireland, and working on behalf of 13 Irish companies with interests in the development of an indigenous Irish sustainable biomass and biorefining sector. He is the principal liaison between NUI, Galway and the BioSpark project (www.biospark.ie) and is working, in partnership with the private sector, on several other industrial projects on the application of biogas technology for energy and added value product production.

Recent Publications

1.      McKeown, RM, Hughes, D, Collins, G, Mahony, T, O'Flaherty, V (2012) Low-temperature anaerobic digestion for wastewater treatment. Curr. Op. Biotechnol. DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2011.11.025

2.      Jahangir, MMR, Khalil, MI, Johnston, P, Cardenas, LM, Hatch, DJ, Butler, M, Barrett, M, O’Flaherty, V, Richards, KG (2012) Denitrification potential in subsoils: A mechanism to reduce nitrate leaching to groundwater. Agri Ecosys Environ 147 (1), 13-23.

3.      Abram, F, Enright, A-M, O'Reilly, J, Botting, CH, Collins, G, O'Flaherty, V (2011) A metaproteomic approach gives functional insights into anaerobic digestion . J. Appl. Microbiol. 110 (6), 1550-1560.

4.      Siggins, A, Enright, AM, O’ Flaherty, V (2011) Low-temperature (7°C) anaerobic treatment of a trichloroethylene-contaminated wastewater: Microbial community development. Water Res. 45 (13), 4035-4046.

5.      Siggins, A, Enright, AM, O’ Flaherty, V (2011) Methanogenic community development in anaerobic granular bioreactors treating trichloroethylene (TCE)-contaminated wastewater at 37°C and 15°C. Water Res. 45 (8), 2452-2462

6.      Bialek, K, Kim, J, Lee, C, Collins, G, Mahony, T, O'Flaherty, V (2011) Quantitative and qualitative analyses of methanogenic community development in high-rate anaerobic bioreactors. Water Res. 45 (3), 1298-1308.

7.      Kim, J, Shin, SG, Han, G, O'Flaherty, V, Lee, C, Hwang, S (2011) Common key acidogen populations in anaerobic reactors treating different wastewaters: Molecular identification and quantitative monitoring. Water Res. 45 (8), 2539-2549.

8.      Catal, T, Kavanagh, P, O'Flaherty, V, Leech, D. (2011) Generation of electricity in microbial fuel cells at sub-ambient temperatures. J. Power Sources 196 (5), 2676-2681.

9.      Catal, T, Cysneiros, D, O'Flaherty, V, Leech, D. (2011) Electricity generation in single-chamber microbial fuel cells using a carbon source sampled from anaerobic reactors utilizing grass silage. Biores. Technol. 102 (1), 404-410.

10.   Siggins, A, Enright, AM, O’ Flaherty, V (2011) Temperature dependent (37-15°C) anaerobic digestion of a trichloroethylene-contaminated wastewater. Biores. Technol. 102 (17), 7645-7656.

11.   Cysneiros, D., Thuillier, A., Villemont, R., Littlestone, A., Mahony, T., O'Flaherty, V. (2011) Temperature effects on the trophic stages of perennial rye grass anaerobic digestion. Water Sci. Technol. 64 (1), 70-76.

12.   Brennan, FP, Richards, K, Kraemers, G, Grant, J, O’ Flaherty, V, (2010) Characterization of environmentally persistent Escherichia coli isolates leached from an Irish soil Appl. Env. Microbiol. 76(7) 2175-2180.

13.   Brennan FP, O’ Flaherty, V, Kraemers, G, Grant, J, Richards, K (2010) Long-term persistence and leaching of E. coli in temperate maritime soils. Appl. Env. Microbiol. 76(5) 1449-1455.

14.   O’Reilly, J, Lee, C, Chinalia, FA, Mahony, T, Collins, G and O’Flaherty, V (2010) Microbial community dynamics associated with biomass granulation in low-temperature (15˚C) anaerobic wastewater treatment bioreactors. Biores. Technol, 101(16) 6336-6344.

15.   Madden, PJ, Chinalia, FA, Enright, A-M, Collins, G and O'Flaherty, V (2010) Perturbation-independent community development in low-temperature anaerobic biological wastewater treatment bioreactors . Biotechnol. Bioeng. 105, 79-87.

16.   Lee, C, Kim J, Shin, SG, O'Flaherty V, Hwang, S (2010) Quantitative and qualitative transitions of methanogen community structure during the batch anaerobic digestion of cheese-processing wastewater. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 87(5), 1963-1973.

17.   Chen, XY, Daniell, TJ, Neilson, R, O'Flaherty, V, Griffiths, BS (2010) A comparison of molecular methods for monitoring soil nematodes and their use as biological indicators. European J. Soil Biol. 46 (5), pp. 319-324.

18.   Coffey, R, Cummins, E, Bhreathnach, N, O’Flaherty, V, Cormican, M (2010) Development of a pathogen transport model for Irish catchments using SWAT. Agri. Water Man. 97(1): 101-111.

19.   Coffey R, Cummins E, O’Flaherty, V, Cormican, M (2010) 'Analysis of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model Cryptosporidium in surface water sources'. Biosys. Eng., 106 (3):303-314.

20.   Coffey, R, Cummins, E, Bhreathnach, N, O’Flaherty, V, Cormican, M (2010) 'Pathogen Source Characterisation and Scenario Analysis Using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)'. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 16 (4):913-933.

21.   Abram, F., Gunnigle, E. and O’Flaherty, V. (2009) Optimisation of protein extraction and 2-DE for metaproteomics of microbial communities from anaerobic wastewater treatment biofilms. Electrophoresis 30, 4149-4151.

22.   McKeown, R.M., Scully, C., Enright, A-M, Chinalia, F.A., Lee, C., Mahony, T., Collins, G., O'Flaherty, V. (2009) Psychrophilic methanogenic community development during long-term cultivation of anaerobic granular biofilms. ISME Journal 3, 1243-1257.

23.   O'Reilly, J., Lee, C., Collins, G., Chinalia, F., Mahony, T., O'Flaherty, V. (2009) Quantitative and qualitative analysis of methanogenic communities in mesophilically and psychrophilically cultivated anaerobic granular biofilims. Water Res. 43 (14), 3365-3374

24.   Lenz, M., Enright, A-M, O'Flaherty, V., Van Aelst, A.C., Lens, P.N.L. (2009) Bioaugmentation of UASB reactors with immobilized Sulfurospirillum barnesii for simultaneous selenate and nitrate removal. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 83 (2), pp. 377-388

25.   O'Reilly, J., Chinalia, F.A., Mahony, T., Collins, G., Wu, J., O'Flaherty, V. (2009) Cultivation of low-temperature (15°C), anaerobic, wastewater treatment granules. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 49 (4), 421-426

26.   McKeown, R.M., Scully, C., Mahony, T., Collins, G., O'Flaherty, V. (2009) Long-term (1243 days), low-temperature (4-15 °C), anaerobic biotreatment of acidified wastewaters: Bioprocess performance and physiological characteristics. Water Res. 43 (6), 1611-1620

27.   Enright, A-M, McGrath, V., Gill, D. Collins, G. and O'Flaherty, V. (2009) Effect of seed sludge and temporal archaeal community structure on the performance of low temperature anaerobic solvent-degrading bioreactors Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 32: 65-79.

28.   Lee, C., Kim, J., Hwang, K., O'Flaherty, V. and Hwang, S. (2009) Quantitative analysis of methanogenic community dynamics in three anaerobic batch digesters treating different wastewaters. Water Res. 43: 157-165.

 

 

• Disclaimer
• Privacy
• Copyright
• Accessibility