Claire O'Connell

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Claire O'Connell

You are a biologist researching blood cancers – when did you develop an interest in science? I grew up in Hungary, and when I was about 12 I read a book by the Hungarian Nobel Prize-winner Albert Szent-Györgyi, who discovered vitamin C. He wrote about how molecules regulate things, and that set my mind on biology. I also enjoyed hiking, and I originally wanted to be an ecologist or a forest engineer, but my parents didn’t think that was a good idea. So I went back to my molecules.

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Claire O'Connell

Your research focuses on genetics, what sparked your interest in this area? I’ve always loved learning. I think that’s from my Mum. In primary school in Co Waterford, she was my teacher for several years. Going to university, I wanted to study an area where there is a lot to discover, so I chose a degree in human genetics in Trinity College Dublin. What came after that? For my PhD I worked on a project called Target 5000, funded by the charity Fighting Blindness.

2 months ago | irishtimes.com | Claire O'Connell

How did you get involved in research into earthquakes? In 2011, I left home in Newcastle, Co Down, to study chemical engineering at Imperial College London, but realised straight away I was not an engineer. I noticed that my friends were having a lot of fun on the geology and geophysics course. My mother is a geologist by training, it was in the background as I was growing up, so I made that switch across.

2 months ago | irishtimes.com | Claire O'Connell

What inspired you to become a psychologist? My mum is a clinical psychologist, and my dad moved from clinical psychology into brain research. When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a clinical psychologist, but when I got into my teens I thought maybe it wasn’t cool to do what your parents do and I chose to study history at college. I loved it, but I noticed that I was always really interested in the people in history, the effects that events had on them and why they made particular decisions.

Jan 8, 2025 | irishtimes.com | Claire O'Connell

You are an environmental psychologist. What is that? Environmental psychology has been around for about 50 years. We are interested in how the world impacts us and how we impact the world. I am particularly looking at how our perceptions of climate change affect our health and wellbeing, and how to design environments that promote positive behaviours and outcomes for urban environments and communities. How did you get into this area of study? I started in sports psychology.