Lucy Harding

Lucy began her scientific career as an undergraduate Environmental Science student at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 2014. She then undertook a 3-month volunteer role as a marine surveyor in the Fiji Islands, igniting her passion for the marine environment. In 2016 Lucy completed an MSc. In Applied Environmental Science at University College Dublin, after which she was employed as a Graduate Scientist in the Environment Dept. of an engineering firm in Dublin, Ireland. In 2017 Lucy moved to Malapascua Island, Philippines, where she was employed as the Lead Science Officer for a marine conservation NGO, running the science programme for a year. Lucy then moved to Caqalai Island, Fiji, where she was employed as a Science and Engagement Officer for a marine conservation NGO, educating international volunteers and engaging local community members in the sustainable management of the local marine resources. In 2019, Lucy returned home to Ireland and began her PhD at Trinity College Dublin, under the guidance of Dr. Nicholas Payne. Lucy’s research interests lie in marine ecology and fish biology, with a focus on the effects of environmental drivers on the distribution of teleosts and elasmobranchs and how these distributions may alter with climate change.

Lucy’s PhD project is focused on linking behaviour and physiology to the thermal niches of fish. She plans to utilise several research approaches throughout the course of her project, such as comparative analyses of large, published datasets to investigate the thermal ranges of ectothermic and regionally-endothermic marine fishes; tagging of marine fish in the wild to investigate the thermal range and behaviour of an ectothermic fish species; and lab-based respirometry experiments investigating the links between physiology and thermal range of fishes. Lucy’s research is supervised by Dr. Nicholas Payne (TCD) as part of The Payne Lab, with additional support provided by Dr. Andrew Jackson (TCD) and Dr. Ian Donohue (TCD) who will act as co-supervisors.