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Professor Vincent O'Flaherty

Head of School of Natural Sciences, Established Professor

• Research Group Leader, Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Dept. of Microbiology, NUI, Galway
   
  
• Priority Research Area Leader - Environmental Technologies, Ryan Institute for Marine, Environment and Energy Research

Contact
Microbiology, School of Natural Sciences and Ryan Institute, 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 & Contribution

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

• Member of the International Programme Committee for the 13th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion ( www.AD13.org)

• External Examiner - Queens University, Belfast; University of Newcastle, UK; University of Cadiz, Spain; University of Uppsala, Sweden; University of Lodz, Poland.

• International Expert Evaluator for Swiss National Science Foundation; US Department of Defense; Portuguese FCT and The Netherlands Chemical, Earth & Environmental Sciences and Technology Technology Foundation (STW).

• Reviewing: ISME Journal; 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 20 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; Control of biofilms in infectious disease settings 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 €8.5m, from sources including the Irish Environmental Protection Agency, the Higher Education Authority, Enterprise Ireland, EU Framework Programmes, and the Irish Research Council. He is a Science Foundation Ireland ( www.sfi.ie ) Principal Investigator through a Charles Parson Energy Research Award. He has published over 200 scientific communications, including 75 papers in leading international, peer-reviewed, journals.

Prof. O’Flaherty is a leading researcher in the Technology Centre for Bioenergy and Biorefining, funded by Enterprise Ireland, and working on behalf of 15 Irish companies with interests in the development of an indigenous Irish sustainable biomass and biorefining sector. He is also a co-founder of a spin-out company from NUI, Galway - Westway Health, which was formed in 2012 and is focused on the development of an exciting and novel antimicrobial platform for infection control in veterinary and human settings www.westwayhealth.com. His group has been heavily involved in the development and application of low-temperature anaerobic biofilm technology towards commercialization.




Pilot-scale Low-temperature Anaerobic Digester, located on site for dairy wastewater treatment.

Recent Publications

http://scholar.google.com/citations?user="dxuO7AYAAAAJ&hl="em&oi=ao

BRENNAN, F.P., GRANT, J., BOTTING, C.H., O’FLAHERTY, V., RICHARDS, K.R., ABRAM, F.A. (2012) Insights Into The Low Temperature Adaptation And Nutritional Flexibility Of A Soil Persistent Escherichia coli. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/1574-6941.12038

BIALEK, K., KUMAR, A, MAHONY, T., LENS, P.N.L. and O’FLAHERTY, V., 2012. Microbial community structure and dynamics in anaerobic fluidized-bed and granular sludge-bed reactors: influence of operational temperature and reactor configuration. Microbial Biotechnology, 5(6), pp. 738–752.

SIGGINS, A., ENRIGHT, A.-M., ABRAM, F.A., BOTTING, C.H. and O'FLAHERTY, V., 2012. Impact of Trichloroethylene Exposure on the Microbial Diversity and Protein Expression in Anaerobic Granular Biomass at 37°C and 15°C. Archaea 2012(2012), Article ID 940159.

MCKEOWN, R.M., HUGHES, D., COLLINS, G., MAHONY, T. and O'FLAHERTY, V., 2012. Low-temperature anaerobic digestion for wastewater treatment. Current opinion in biotechnology, 23(3), pp. 444-451.

BRENNAN, F.P., KRAMERS, G., GRANT, J., O'FLAHERTY, V., HOLDEN, N.M. and RICHARDS, K., 2012. Evaluating E. coli transport risk in soil using dye and bromide tracers. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 76(2), pp. 663-673.

FLANNERY, J., KEAVENEY, S., RAJKO-NENOW, P., O'FLAHERTY, V. and DORÉ, W., 2012. Concentration of norovirus during wastewater treatment and its impact on oyster contamination. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 78(9), pp. 3400-3406.

KATURI, K.P., ENRIGHT, A.-M., O'FLAHERTY, V. and LEECH, D., 2012. Microbial analysis of anodic biofilm in a microbial fuel cell using slaughterhouse wastewater. Bioelectrochemistry, 87, pp. 164-171.

KATURI, K.P., RENGARAJ, S., KAVANAGH, P., O'FLAHERTY, V. and LEECH, D., 2012. Charge transport through Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms grown on graphite rods. Langmuir, 28(20), pp. 7904-7913.

JAHANGIR, M.M.R., KHALIL, M.I., JOHNSTON, P., CARDENAS, L.M., HATCH, D.J., BUTLER, M., BARRETT, M., O'FLAHERTY, V. and RICHARDS, K.G., 2012. Denitrification potential in subsoils: A mechanism to reduce nitrate leaching to groundwater. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 147(1), pp. 13-23.

ABRAM, F., ENRIGHT, A.-M., O'REILLY, J., BOTTING, C.H., COLLINS, G. and O'FLAHERTY, V., 2011. A metaproteomic approach gives functional insights into anaerobic digestion. Journal of applied microbiology, 110(6), pp. 1550-1560.

BIALEK, K., KIM, J., LEE, C., COLLINS, G., MAHONY, T. and O'FLAHERTY, V., 2011. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of methanogenic community development in high-rate anaerobic bioreactors. Water research, 45(3), pp. 1298-1308.

CATAL, T., CYSNEIROS, D., O'FLAHERTY, V. and LEECH, D., 2011. Electricity generation in single-chamber microbial fuel cells using a carbon source sampled from anaerobic reactors utilizing grass silage. Bioresource technology, 102(1), pp. 404-410.

CATAL, T., KAVANAGH, P., O'FLAHERTY, V. and LEECH, D., 2011. Generation of electricity in microbial fuel cells at sub-ambient temperatures. Journal of Power Sources, 196(5), pp. 2676-2681.

CYSNEIROS, D., THUILLIER, A., VILLEMONT, R., LITTLESTONE, A., MAHONY, T. and O'FLAHERTY, V., 2011. Temperature effects on the trophic stages of perennial rye grass anaerobic digestion. Water Science and Technology, 64(1), pp. 70-76.

KIM, J., SHIN, S.G., HAN, G., O'FLAHERTY, V., LEE, C. and HWANG, S., 2011. Common key acidogen populations in anaerobic reactors treating different wastewaters: Molecular identification and quantitative monitoring. Water research, 45(8), pp. 2539-2549.

SIGGINS, A., ENRIGHT, A.-. and O'FLAHERTY, V., 2011. Low-temperature (7 °C) anaerobic treatment of a trichloroethylene-contaminated wastewater: Microbial community development. Water research, 45(13), pp. 4035-4046.

SIGGINS, A., ENRIGHT, A.-. and O'FLAHERTY, V., 2011. Methanogenic community development in anaerobic granular bioreactors treating trichloroethylene (TCE)-contaminated wastewater at 37 °C and 15 °C. Water research, 45(8), pp. 2452-2462.
 
SIGGINS, A., ENRIGHT, A.-. and O'FLAHERTY, V., 2011. Temperature dependent (37-15°C) anaerobic digestion of a trichloroethylene-contaminated wastewater. Bioresource technology, 102(17), pp. 7645-7656.

O'REILLY, J., LEE, C., CHINALIA, F., COLLINS, G., MAHONY, T. and O'FLAHERTY, V., 2010. Microbial community dynamics associated with biomass granulation in low-temperature (15 °C) anaerobic wastewater treatment bioreactors. Bioresource technology, 101(16), pp. 6336-6344.

CHEN, X.Y., DANIELL, T.J., NEILSON, R., O'FLAHERTY, V. and GRIFFITHS, B.S., 2010. A comparison of molecular methods for monitoring soil nematodes and their use as biological indicators. European Journal of Soil Biology, 46(5), pp. 319-324.

 

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