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4. Paul Bolger

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Biography

Dr Paul Bolger is manager of the Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork, Ireland. He has a BSc Degree in Environmental Science, holds a PhD in Chemistry, and a Masters in Business Administration. He has worked across academia, industry and government for over 20 years developing long term research solutions for global sustainability challenges.

He is currently Principal Investigator on the Imagining 2050 research project which is engaging with civil society using innovative approaches to co-develop pathways to a low carbon and climate resilient future. He is also Principal Investigator on NEWTRIENTS research project which uses a circular economy approach to produce value-added products from dairy industry wastewater

Dr Bolger is an EPA 2019 Fulbright Scholar in which he examined how interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research is being utilised at sustainability research institutes at Duke University, Cornell University, Colombia University and Arizona State University to achieve more robust and sustainable research outcomes.
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Research Interests

Dr Bolger research interests are in how to utilise interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (co-production) approaches to address complex environmental challenges, and in how broad academic knowledge across natural and social sciences, humanities, business and law can help society achieve sustainable development goals.

Research Grants

	Project	Funding Body	Start Date	End Date	Award
	Climate Technology - Realising the Potential	Environmental Protection Agency	01-JAN-12	31-DEC-14
	Imagining 2050	Environmental Protection Agency	01-JAN-19	01-APR-21
	Higher Diploma in Sustainability in Enterprise	Higher Education Authority	01-SEP-20	31-DEC-24
	Fulbright Irish Scholar Award	Environmental Protection Agency	18-FEB-19	31-JUL-19
	NEWTRIENTS	Environmental Protection Agency	01-JAN-18	31-DEC-20

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Publications

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Book Chapters

	Year	Publication
	(2015)	'A Journey in Sustainable Development in an Urban Campus' Reidy D.; Kirrane M.; Curley B.; Brosnan D.; Koch S.; Bolger P.; Dunphy N.; McCarthy M.; Poland M.; Ryan-Fogarty Y; and O'Halloran J. (2015) 'A Journey in Sustainable Development in an Urban Campus' In: Walter Leal Filho, Luciana Brandli, Olga Kuznetsova, Arminda Maria Finisterra do Paço (eds). Integrative Approaches to Sustainable Development at University Level. Switzerland: Springer. [DOI] [Details]

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Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2020)	'A study of faculty perceptions and engagement with interdisciplinary research in university sustainability institutes' Bolger P. (2020) 'A study of faculty perceptions and engagement with interdisciplinary research in university sustainability institutes'. Journal Of Environmental Studies And Sciences, [DOI] [Details]
	(2000)	'Current and emerging technologies for extending the lifetime of electroless nickel plating baths' Bolger P. and Szlag D. (2000) 'Current and emerging technologies for extending the lifetime of electroless nickel plating baths'. Clean Technologies And Environmental Policy, 2 [DOI] [Details]
	(2002)	'An electrochemical system for removing and recovering elemental mercury from a gas stream' Bolger PT;Szlag DC; (2002) 'An electrochemical system for removing and recovering elemental mercury from a gas stream'. Environmental Science & Technology, 36 (20) [DOI] [Details]
	(2002)	'Investigation into the rejuvenation of spend electroless nickel baths by electrodialysis' Bolger, PT;Szlag, DC (2002) 'Investigation into the rejuvenation of spend electroless nickel baths by electrodialysis'. Environmental Science & Technology, 36 :2273-2278 [DOI] [Details]
	(2002)	'Electrochemical treatment and reuse of nickel plating rinse waters' Bolger P.;Szlag D. (2002) 'Electrochemical treatment and reuse of nickel plating rinse waters'. Environmental Progress, 21 (3):203-208 [DOI] [Details]

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Other Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2003)	'Membrane Bioreactors: a new option for wastewater managers' Bolger P. (2003) 'Membrane Bioreactors: a new option for wastewater managers' The Engineers Journal, . [Details]
	(2002)	'Analysis of electroless nickel solutions by anion chromatography' Bolger P.;Szlag D. (2002) 'Analysis of electroless nickel solutions by anion chromatography' Plating and Surface Finishing, 89 (3) :52-55. [Details]
	(2002)	'Regenerating mercury-loaded sorbents' Britt E Erickson (2002) 'Regenerating mercury-loaded sorbents' Environmental Science and Technology, :408A-409A. [Details]

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Published Reports

	Year	Publication
	(2016)	Climate Technology - Realising the Potential. Rogan F., Bolger P. and O'Gallachoir B. (2016) Climate Technology - Realising the Potential. Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland.   [Details]

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Newspaper Articles

	Year	Publication
	(2020)	UCC’s interdisciplinary mode of problem solving. Bolger P. (2020) UCC’s interdisciplinary mode of problem solving. Newspaper Articles   [Details]
	(2020)	Climate action is not a New Year's resolution which we can put off. Bolger P. and Flood S. (2020) Climate action is not a New Year's resolution which we can put off. Newspaper Articles [Details]
	(2019)	How to talk to your mates about climate change?. Bolger P. (2019) How to talk to your mates about climate change?. Newspaper Articles   [Details]
	(2018)	How do we respond to the wicked problem of climate change?. Bolger P. (2018) How do we respond to the wicked problem of climate change?. Newspaper Articles   [Details]

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Professional Activities

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Honours and Awards

	Year	Title	Awarding Body
	2019	Fulbright Irish Scholar Award	Fulbright Ireland-Environmental Protection Agency
	1999	ORISE Fellowship at the US Environmental Protection Agency	US Environmental Protection Agency

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Professional Associations

	Association	Function	From / To
	Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland	Chair	01-JAN-11 / 31-DEC-15

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Committees

	Committee	Function	From / To
	Royal Irish Academy Climate Change and Environmental Sciences Committee	Member	2019 / 2022

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Employment

	Employer	Position	From / To
	Bord na Mona	Research and Innovation Manager	01-JAN-01 / 01-JAN-06
	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, United States	Postdoctoral Fellow	01-JAN-99 / 01-JAN-01
	University College Cork	Manager, Environmental Research Institute	01-JAN-06 / 31-DEC-20

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Education

	Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
	1999	Queen's University of Belfast	PhD	PhD in Chemistry
	2006	Open University, United Kingdom	Masters in Business Administration (MBA)	Business Administration
	1994	Sligo IT	BSc	Environmental Science and Technology

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Outreach Activities

	Description
	Climate Hackathon: Led the organisation of 24 hour climate change global hackathon in Cork City in 2016 and 2017
	Climate in a Bottle: Developed a set of climate change demonstrations for science outreach exhibitions (Climate in a Bottle)
	Climate Lab Public Lecture series: Organise regular public lectures on climate change and environment
	An Taisce Climate Ambassador
	Saturday Science Club founder: Established a Saturday Science Club for local primary school

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Journal Activities

	Journal	Role	To / From
	Clean Technologies And Environmental Policy	Editor	-