Biography

Dr Aaron Lim is a Lecturer in Marine Geosciences, Director of MSc Applied Coastal and Marine Management and Head of the Earth and Ocean Lab at University College Cork. He holds a PhD in Marine Geosciences and his research interests seabed habitat mapping, development of novel seabed mapping and monitoring methods and contemporary seabed processes. Since 2017, Dr Lim has won >€4M in research grants (SFI, Marine Institute, H2020, PIP, EI, GSI, EPA and IRC) and published >30 peer-reviewed research articles with a H-index of 15. He has won UCC Early-stage Research of the Year, the Presidents Award for Research into Innovative form of Teaching, the Gold Medal Delap prize with 2 articles selected as Editors choice Nature Science Reports ('Top 100 in Earth Science' and 'Editors Choice for Coral Reefs'). He has 2 years of senior scientific management experience in the offshore survey/renewable industry and was previously a member of the EuroFleets+ Scientific Advisory Committee. He has participated in over 15 research cruises (chief scientist on four) ranging from the Mid-Atlantic, North Atlantic, Celtic Sea and Irish Sea.

Research Interests

  • Development of novel marine and coastal mapping and monitoring methods
  • Development and novel application of marine geomatics, imaging and spatial analyses (typically applied to multibeam, photogrammetry, acoustic backscatter (side scan sonar and multibeam snippets), magnetometry, ROV and AUV operations, sub-bottom profiler, point clouds) 
  • Understanding active and recent seabed processes
  • Mapping cold water coral habitats in space and time
  • Development of effective and environmentally-friendly offshore survey design

Research Grants

  Project Funding
Body 		Start Date End Date Award
"Digital Environmental Technology for Enhanced Coastal Zone Management Environment Protection Agency (EPA) 31-MAR-24 30-MAR-28 €542,787.00
Instability and Pollution Potential Mapping of Irish Shipwreck Sites for a National Risk Assessment Database (I-PoINt) Marine Institute (MI) 01-JUN-24 31-MAY-28 €384,556.00
Seagrass mapping to assess natural stocks of blue carbon (SEAMANS_Carbon). Marine Institute (MI) 01-MAY-23 30-SEP-26 €296,003.00
Recycling sub-bottom profiler data to support Offshore Renewable Energy Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) 01-SEP-24 31-JAN-25 €15,000.00
3D modelling of CWC reefs Irish Research Council 01-JAN-24 31-DEC-26 €112,000.00
The development and impact of VR fieldtrips on Geoscience Curricula. Department of Communication, Climate Action and the Environment 01-SEP-23 31-AUG-25 €77,636.00
An Enhanced Angular Range Analysis workflow with backscatter and magnetometry for wider industrial impact and uptake of INFOMAR data. Department of Communication, Climate Action and the Environment 01-SEP-23 31-AUG-25 €78,873.00
Towards Irelands First Offshore Magnetometry Map 01-SEP-24 31-MAY-25 €29,966.00
Novel high-resolution spatio-temporal monitoring of cold water coral reefs over 9 years Enterprise Ireland 01-JAN-23 14-DEC-23 €15,896.00
Towards inclusive, open access, virtual reality geoscience fieldtrips for teaching and research enhancement National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 06-MAR-23 31-DEC-23 €25,493.00
Systematic monitoring survey of the Moira Mound chain Marine Institute 01-JUL-20 01-JUN-21 €350,000.00
Monitoring Changes in Submarine Canyon Coral Habitats Marine Institute 13-MAY-19 31-JUL-19 €500,000.00
Flexible Marine Environmental Monitoring Marine Institute 01-NOV-17 30-OCT-18 €178,980.00
Pipco RSG Industry 01-OCT-19 30-JUN-25 €194,621.00
Controls on Cold water coral habitat development Marine Institute 01-JUN-18 14-JUN-18 €250,000.00
Integrated assessment of Atlantic Marine Ecosystems in Space and Time Horizon 2020 18-JUN-19 €97,800.00
Monitoring Microplastics and their Associated Chemicals and their effects in Irish Deep Water Coral Habitats. (Plast_Chem_Dora) Marine Institute 01-JUN-22 €284,397.00
Novel Mapping of the INFOMAR data set Marine Institute 01-JUN-20 €349,109.00
Mapping, Monitoring and Modelling Key Processes and Controls and Science Foundation Ireland 01-NOV-17 €869,099.00

Contract Researchers

  Researcher Name Project Role Funding Body
Dr Achilleas Iasonos Instability and Pollution Potential Mapping of Irish Shipwreck Sites for a National Risk Assessment Database (I-PoINt) Postdoctoral Researcher Marine Institute
Dr Larissa de Oliveira Digital Environmental Technologies Co Principal Investigator Environmental Protection Agency
Dr Ger Summers SEAMANS_Carbon Seagrass Mapping with side scan, multispectral UAV and sediment cores Postdoctoral Researcher Marine Institute
Dr Larissa Macedo Development of VR fieldtrips Postdoctoral Researcher Higher Education Authority via NAIRTL
Dr Larissa Macedo ERC Research Support Research Assistant Enterprise Ireland

Peer Reviewed Journals

Year Publication
(2024) 'Microplastics and cellulosic microparticles in North Atlantic deep waters and in the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa'
Alicia Mateos-Cárdenas, Andrew J. Wheeler, Aaron Lim (2024) 'Microplastics and cellulosic microparticles in North Atlantic deep waters and in the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa'. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 206 [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2024) 'A large-scale riverbank erosion risk assessment model integrating multi-source data and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI)'
Zhongda Ren , Chuanjie Liu , Xiaolong Zhao , Yang Jin, Yafei Ou, Ruiqing Liu, Heshan Fan, Qian Yang, Aaron Lim, Heqin Cheng (2024) 'A large-scale riverbank erosion risk assessment model integrating multi-source data and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI)'. Ecological Indicators, 166 [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2024) 'CoMMa: A GIS geomorphometry toolbox to map and measure confined landforms'
Riccardo Arosio, Joana Gafeira, Laurence H. De Clippele, Andrew J. Wheeler, Veerle A.I. Huvenne, Fabio Sacchetti, Luis A. Conti, Aaron Lim (2024) 'CoMMa: A GIS geomorphometry toolbox to map and measure confined landforms'. Geomorphology, [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2024) 'Large-scale bedrock outcrop mapping on the NE Atlantic Irish continental margin'
Audrey Recouvreur, Andrew J. Wheeler, Ruaihri Strachan, Patrick A. Meere, Richard P. Unitt, Aaron Lim (2024) 'Large-scale bedrock outcrop mapping on the NE Atlantic Irish continental margin'. Frontiers in Marine Science, [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2024) 'Development and physical characteristics of the Irish shelf-edge Macnas Mounds, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic'
Erica Terese Krueger, Vincent Mouchi, Xavier Monteys, Stephen McCarron, Aaron Lim & Quentin G. Crowley (2024) 'Development and physical characteristics of the Irish shelf-edge Macnas Mounds, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic'. International Journal of Earth Sciences, [DOI] [Details]
(2023) 'The geomorphology of Ireland's continental shelf'
Arosio, Riccardo and Wheeler, Andrew J and Sacchetti, Fabio and Guinan, Janine and Benetti, Sara and O'Keeffe, Eimear and van Landeghem, Katrien JJ and Conti, Luis A and Furey, Thomas and Lim, Aaron (2023) 'The geomorphology of Ireland's continental shelf'. Journal of Maps, 19 (1) [Details]
(2023) 'A Low-Cost, Repeatable Method for 3D Particle Analysis with SfM Photogrammetry'
Tunwal, M; Lim, A (2023) 'A Low-Cost, Repeatable Method for 3D Particle Analysis with SfM Photogrammetry'. Geosciences, 13 (7) [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2023) 'Multi resolution appraisal of Cork Harbour estuary: An object based image analysis approach'
Gerard Summers, Aaron Lim, Andy Wheeler (2023) 'Multi resolution appraisal of Cork Harbour estuary: An object based image analysis approach'. Geomorphology, [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2023) 'Fully convolutional neural networks applied to large-scale marine morphology mapping'
Riccardo Arosio, Brandon Hobley, A. Wheeler, Fabio Sacchetti, Luis Conti, Thomas Furey, Aaron Lim (2023) 'Fully convolutional neural networks applied to large-scale marine morphology mapping'. Frontiers in Marine Science, [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2022) 'High-resolution 3D mapping of cold-water coral reefs using machine learning'
de Oliveira, LMC;Lim, A;Conti, LA;Wheeler, AJ (2022) 'High-resolution 3D mapping of cold-water coral reefs using machine learning'. Frontiers In Environmental Science, 10 [DOI] [Details]
(2022) 'A Characterisation of Benthic Currents from Seabed Bathymetry: An Object-Based Image Analysis of Cold-Water Coral Mounds'
Summers, G; Lim, A; Wheeler, A. J (2022) 'A Characterisation of Benthic Currents from Seabed Bathymetry: An Object-Based Image Analysis of Cold-Water Coral Mounds'. Remote Sensing, 14 (19) [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2022) 'Environmental forcing by submarine canyons: Evidence between two closely situated cold-water coral mounds (Porcupine Bank Canyon and Western Porcupine Bank, NE Atlantic)'
O'Reilly L.;Fentimen R.;Butschek F.;Titschack J.;Lim A.;Moore N.;O'Connor O.J.;Appah J.;Harris K.;Vennemann T.;Wheeler A.J. (2022) 'Environmental forcing by submarine canyons: Evidence between two closely situated cold-water coral mounds (Porcupine Bank Canyon and Western Porcupine Bank, NE Atlantic)'. Marine Geology, 454 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2022) 'Developing Mobile Applications with Augmented Reality and 3D Photogrammetry for Visualisation of Cold-Water Coral Reefs and Deep-Water Habitats'
de Oliveira, Larissa Macedo Cruz and Oliveira, Priscila Almeida de and Lim, Aaron and Wheeler, Andrew J. and Conti, Luis Americo (2022) 'Developing Mobile Applications with Augmented Reality and 3D Photogrammetry for Visualisation of Cold-Water Coral Reefs and Deep-Water Habitats'. Geosciences, 12 (10) [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2022) 'Accumulation of marine litter in cold-water coral habitats: A comparative study of two Irish Special Areas of Conservation, NE Atlantic'
Appah JKM;Killeen O;Lim A;O'Riordan R;O'Reilly L;Wheeler AJ; (2022) 'Accumulation of marine litter in cold-water coral habitats: A comparative study of two Irish Special Areas of Conservation, NE Atlantic'. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 180 [DOI] [Details]
(2022) 'A health survey of the reef forming scleractinian cold-water corals Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata in a remote submarine canyon on the European continental margin, NE Atlantic'
Appah JKM;Lynch SA;Lim A;O' Riordan R;O'Reilly L;de Oliveira L;Wheeler AJ; (2022) 'A health survey of the reef forming scleractinian cold-water corals Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata in a remote submarine canyon on the European continental margin, NE Atlantic'. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 192 [DOI] [Details]
(2022) 'Using novel methods to track British and Irish Ice Sheet dynamics since the Late Pleistocene, along the west Porcupine Bank, NE Atlantic'
Luke O.R.;Aaron L.;Jürgen T.;Niamh M.;O'Connor O.J.;John A.;Fentimen R.;Butschek F.;Kimberley H.;Torsten V.;Wheeler A.J. (2022) 'Using novel methods to track British and Irish Ice Sheet dynamics since the Late Pleistocene, along the west Porcupine Bank, NE Atlantic'. Quaternary Science Reviews, 284 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2021) 'Cold-Water Coral Habitat Mapping: Trends and Developments in Acquisition and Processing Methods'
Lim, A;Wheeler, AJ;Conti, L (2021) 'Cold-Water Coral Habitat Mapping: Trends and Developments in Acquisition and Processing Methods'. Geosciences, 11 [DOI] [Details]
(2021) '3D Classification of Cold-Water Coral Reefs: A Comparison of Classification Techniques for 3D Reconstructions of Cold-Water Coral Reefs and Seabed'
de Oliveira, LMC;Lim, A;Conti, LA;Wheeler, AJ (2021) '3D Classification of Cold-Water Coral Reefs: A Comparison of Classification Techniques for 3D Reconstructions of Cold-Water Coral Reefs and Seabed'. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8 [DOI] [Details]
(2021) 'The "Little MonSta" Deep-Sea Benthic, Precision Deployable, Multi-Sensor and Sampling Lander Array'
Wheeler, AJ;Lim, A;Butschek, F;O'Reilly, L;Harris, K;O'Driscoll, P (2021) 'The "Little MonSta" Deep-Sea Benthic, Precision Deployable, Multi-Sensor and Sampling Lander Array'. Sensors, 21 [DOI] [Details]
(2021) 'A Scalable, Supervised Classification of Seabed Sediment Waves Using an Object-Based Image Analysis Approach'
Summers, G;Lim, A;Wheeler, AJ (2021) 'A Scalable, Supervised Classification of Seabed Sediment Waves Using an Object-Based Image Analysis Approach'. Remote Sensing, 13 [DOI] [Details]
(2021) 'Fine-Scale Heterogeneity of a Cold-Water Coral Reef and Its Influence on the Distribution of Associated Taxa'
Price, DM;Lim, A;Callaway, A;Eichhorn, MP;Wheeler, AJ;Lo Iacono, C;Huvenne, VAI (2021) 'Fine-Scale Heterogeneity of a Cold-Water Coral Reef and Its Influence on the Distribution of Associated Taxa'. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8 [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'Impact of bottom water currents on benthic foraminiferal assemblages in a cold-water coral environment: The Moira Mounds (NE Atlantic)'
Fentimen R.;Lim A.;Rüggeberg A.;Wheeler A.;Van Rooij D.;Foubert A. (2020) 'Impact of bottom water currents on benthic foraminiferal assemblages in a cold-water coral environment: The Moira Mounds (NE Atlantic)'. Marine Micropaleontology, 154 [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'Influence of benthic currents on cold-water coral habitats: a combined benthic monitoring and 3D photogrammetric investigation'
Lim, A;Wheeler, AJ;Price, DM;O'Reilly, L;Harris, K;Conti, L (2020) 'Influence of benthic currents on cold-water coral habitats: a combined benthic monitoring and 3D photogrammetric investigation'. Scientific Reports, 10 [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'Are Non-reef Habitats as Important to Benthic Diversity and Composition as Coral Reef and Rubble Habitats in Submarine Canyons? Analysis of Controls on Benthic Megafauna Distribution in the Porcupine Bank Canyon, NE Atlantic'
Appah, JKM;Lim, A;Harris, K;O'Riordan, R;O'Reilly, L;Wheeler, AJ (2020) 'Are Non-reef Habitats as Important to Benthic Diversity and Composition as Coral Reef and Rubble Habitats in Submarine Canyons? Analysis of Controls on Benthic Megafauna Distribution in the Porcupine Bank Canyon, NE Atlantic'. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7 [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'Geomorphological and seismostratigraphic evidence for multidirectional polyphase glaciation of the northern Celtic Sea'
Toth, Z;Mccarron, S;Wheeler, AJ;Wenau, S;Davis, S;Lim, A;Spiess, V (2020) 'Geomorphological and seismostratigraphic evidence for multidirectional polyphase glaciation of the northern Celtic Sea'. Journal Of Quaternary Science, [DOI] [Details]
(2019) 'Cold-water corals in decline - A temporal (4 year) species abundance and biodiversity appraisal of complete photomosaiced cold-water coral reef on the Irish Margin'
Boolukos, CM;Lim, A;O'Riordan, RM;Wheeler, AJ (2019) 'Cold-water corals in decline - A temporal (4 year) species abundance and biodiversity appraisal of complete photomosaiced cold-water coral reef on the Irish Margin'. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 146 :44-54 [DOI] [Details]
(2019) 'High resolution mapping of a cold water coral mound'
Conti, LA;Lim, A;Wheeler, AJ (2019) 'High resolution mapping of a cold water coral mound'. Scientific Reports, 9 [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Benthic foraminifera in a deep-sea high-energy environment: the Moira Mounds (Porcupine Seabight, SW of Ireland)'
Fentimen, R;Ruggeberg, A;Lim, A;El Kateb, A;Foubert, A;Wheeler, AJ;Spezzaferri, S (2018) 'Benthic foraminifera in a deep-sea high-energy environment: the Moira Mounds (Porcupine Seabight, SW of Ireland)'. Swiss Journal Of Geosciences, 111 :533-544 [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Seabed image acquisition and survey design for cold water coral mound characterisation'
Lim, A;Kane, A;Arnaubec, A;Wheeler, AJ (2018) 'Seabed image acquisition and survey design for cold water coral mound characterisation'. Marine Geology, 395 :22-32 [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'New insights on coral mound development from groundtruthed high-resolution ROV-mounted multibeam imaging'
Lim, Aaron; Huvenne, Veerle A. I.; Vertino, Agostina; Spezzaferri, Silvia; Wheeler, Andrew J. (2018) 'New insights on coral mound development from groundtruthed high-resolution ROV-mounted multibeam imaging'. Marine Geology, 403 :225-237 [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2017) 'High-resolution facies zonation within a cold-water coral mound: The case of the Piddington Mound, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic'
Lim, A;Wheeler, AJ;Arnaubec, A (2017) 'High-resolution facies zonation within a cold-water coral mound: The case of the Piddington Mound, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic'. Marine Geology, 390 :120-130 [DOI] [Details]
(2013) 'Moytirra: Discovery of the first known deep-sea hydrothermal vent field on the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge north of the Azores'
Wheeler, AJ;Murton, B;Copley, J;Lim, A;Carlsson, J;Collins, P;Dorschel, B;Green, D;Judge, M;Nye, V;Benzie, J;Antoniacomi, A;Coughlan, M;Morris, K (2013) 'Moytirra: Discovery of the first known deep-sea hydrothermal vent field on the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge north of the Azores'. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 14 :4170-4184 [DOI] [Details]

Book Chapters

Year Publication
(2023) 'The North-east Atlantic Margin: A Review of the Geology, Geography, Oceanography, and Vulnerable Megabenthic Ecosystems of the Continental Slope of Ireland and the United Kingdom'
Declan Morrissey, Aaron Lim, Kerry L. Howell, Martin White, Andrew J. Wheeler, A. Louise Allcock (2023) 'The North-east Atlantic Margin: A Review of the Geology, Geography, Oceanography, and Vulnerable Megabenthic Ecosystems of the Continental Slope of Ireland and the United Kingdom' In: S. J. Hawkins, P. A. Todd, B. D. Russell, A. J. Lemasson, A. L. Allcock, M. Byrne, L. B. Firth, C. H. Lucas, E. M. Marzinelli, P. J. Mumby, J. Sharples, I. P. Smith, and S. E. Swearer (eds). Oceanography and Marine Biology. London: Taylor and Francis. [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]

Published Reports

  Year Publication
(2019) CE19014 Cruise Report: Monitoring Changes in Submarine Canyon Coral Habitats - Leg 2 (MoCha_Scan II).
Lim, Aaron; O' Reilly, Luke; Summers, Gerard; Harris, Kim; Macedo, Larissa; O' Hanlon, Zoe; Appah, John; O' Mahony, Evan; Strachan, Ruaihri; Walsh, Phoebe; Wheeler, Andy; (2019) CE19014 Cruise Report: Monitoring Changes in Submarine Canyon Coral Habitats - Leg 2 (MoCha_Scan II). Zenodo, Online. [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Details]
(2019) Monitoring changes in submarine canyon coral habitats - Leg 1 (MoCha_SCan).
Lim, Aaron; O'Reilly, Luke; Summers, Gerard; Harris, Kim; Shine, Andrew; Harman, Luke; Appah, John; Macedo, Larissa; Boyd, John; Anders, Bebhinn; Killeen, Orla; Conti, Luis; O'Brien, Martina (2019) Monitoring changes in submarine canyon coral habitats - Leg 1 (MoCha_SCan). University College Cork, Cork. [ Publisher's Version] [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]

Honours and Awards

Year Title Awarding Body
2017 Delap Gold Prize University College Cork
2015 President's Award for Research into Innovative Forms of Teaching University College Cork
2012 Devoy Prize University College Cork

Employment

Employer Position From / To
Green Rebel Senior Analytics Manager 01-JAN-22 / 30-JUN-22
Green Rebel Lead Data Scientist 01-JAN-21 / 31-DEC-21
University College Cork Senior Postdoctoral Researcher 01-JAN-19 / 31-DEC-20
University College Cork Postdoctoral Researcher 01-FEB-17 / 01-JAN-19

Education

Year Institution Qualification Subject
2017 University College Cork PhD Marine Geosciences
2023 University College Cork PG Dip Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
2012 University College Cork BSc (Hons) Earth Science Earth Science

Journal Activities

  Journal Role To / From
Frontiers In Marine Science Member of Editorial Board -
Isprs International Journal Of Geo-Information Peer Reviewer -
Geosciences Peer Reviewer -
Frontiers In Marine Science Peer Reviewer -

Teaching Interests

Module co-ordinator:
GG3007: Coastal and Marine Geomorphology
GG2005: Quaternary Environments and Geomorphology
GG6532: Coastal and Marine Resource Use Practices
GG1013: Environmental Geography
GG6540: Applied Seafloor Mapping

Contributes to:
GG1015: Applied Geography
GG2022: Fieldwork
GG2038: Geographical Research Methods
GG3006: Research Methods and Dissertation
ER4005: Frontiers in Earth Science
ER4001: Research Project
AM6021: Dissertation in Mathematical Modelling and Machine Learning

Recent Postgraduates

Graduation Year Student Name Institution Degree Type Thesis Title
2022 Luke O' Reilly University College Cork PHD Understanding Key Geological Processes and Controls on Cold-water Coral Habitat Development in Submarine Canyons
2022 John Appah University College Cork PHD
2028 Corie Boolukos University College Cork PHD
2023 Larissa Macedo University College Cork PHD
2023 Ger Summers University College Cork PHD
2021 Ruaihri Strachan University College Cork Master of Research Bedrock target analysis for ROV rockdrill sampling and existing sample stratigraphic and mineralogical verification (BeTar_drill)
2021 Evan O' Mahony University College Cork Master of Research Aggregate potential of marine sediments off the South coast of Ireland

Current Postgraduate Students

Student Degree Type
Brennan Cara Beth Masters Degree by Research
Loriga Irene Masters Degree by Research
Walsh Kevin Masters Degree by Research

Internal Collaborators

Name Institute Country
Pat Meere University College Cork IRELAND
Michelle McKeown University College Cork IRELAND
Andrew Wheeler University College Cork IRELAND
Ken Higgs University College Cork IRELAND

External Collaborators

Name Organisation / Institute Country
Jared Peters Green Rebel IRELAND
Dr Laurance De Clipelle University of Glasgow UNITED KINGDOM
Stacey Felgate Heriot-Watt University SCOTLAND
Antonio Cano University of Belize BELIZE
David Price Institute of Marine Research (IMAR) - University of Azores PORTUGAL
Luis Conti University of Sao Paolo BRAZIL
Mohit Tunwal Pennsylvania State University U.S.A.
Fabio Sachetti Marine Institute IRELAND