Lecturer

 Room 18
Rhetoric House
Tel: 353 1 708 3494
E-mail: conor.murphy@nuim.ie

Semester One Office Hours

Monday	14.00 – 16.00
Tuesday	14.00 - 16.00

Teaching Academic Year 2012-2013

• GY216 Hazards and Society
• GY669 Hydrology: Variability and Change
• GY665 Climate Change Policy Seminar
• GY662 Research Design and Planning
• GY310 Geography Research Workshop

Department Administration

• Director MSc in Climate Change

Research Interests

• Climate Change/Water Resources/Cathment Hydrology
• Adaptation to Climate Change
• Environmental Modelling
• Resilience/Critical Transitions

 

Publications

2013

Adger, N.W., Quinn, T., Lorenzoni, I. Murphy, C. and Sweeney, J. (2013) Changing Social Contracts in Climate Change Adaptation Nature Climate Change, 3.

Murphy, C., Harrigan, S., Hall, J. and Wilby, R.L. (2013) Climate Driven Trends in mean and high flows from a network of reference stations in Ireland. Hydrologcial Sciences Journal (In Press)

 

2012

Bastola, S., Murphy, C. Fealy, R. (2012) Generating probabilistic estimates of hydrological response using a weather generator and probabilistic climate change scenarios. Hydrological Processes, 26(15), 2307-2321

Bastola, S. and Murphy, C. (2012) Sensitivity of the performance of a conceptual rainfall runoff model to the temporal sampling of calibration data. Hydrology Research (In press) doi:10.2166/nh.2012.061

Solecki, W.D. and Murphy, C. (2012) Transition Theory and Tipping Points - challenges and opportunities for Urban Water Supply Systems. Ambio (submitted).

Murphy, C. (2012) Ireland. In Philander, G.S. and Golson, J.G. (Eds), Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change, Second Edition. SAGE Publications, Inc. ISBN 978-1412992619

Hall, J., Murphy, C. (2012) Robust Adaptation in the water sector in Co-ordination, Communication and Adaptation for Climate Change in Ireland: an Integrated Approach. Climate Change Research Programme (CCRP) 2007-2013 Report Series No. 16. Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland, Government Publication ISBN: 978-1-84095-446-3

Murphy, C., Harrigan, S., Hall, J. and Wilby, R.L. (2012) HydroDetect: The Identification and Assessment of Climate Change Indicators from an Irish Reference Network of River Flow Stations. Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland, Government Publication (Submitted)

Dwyer, N. and Murphy, C. (2012) ‘River Discharge’ in Irish Climate Status Report 2012 (ed. N. Dwyer), EPA, Johnstown Castle, Ireland. (Submitted)

Hall, J. and Murphy, C. (2012), “Adapting Water Supply Systems in a Changing Climate". In 'Water Supply Systems, Distribution and Environmental Effects'. Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Hauppauge, New York, USA. ISBN: 978-1-61470-421-8.

Fealy, R., Allott, N., Broderick, C., de Eyto, E., Dillane, M., Erdil, R.M., Hancox, L., Jennings, E., McCrann, K., Murphy, C., O'Toole, C., Poole, R., Rogan, G., Ryder, E., Taylor, D., Whelan, K. and White, J. (2010) RESCALE: Review and Simulate Climate and Catchment Responses at Burrishoole, Technical Report, Marine Research Sub Programme 2007-2013, Marine Institute, Oranmore, Co. Galway, pp1-456 (submitted).

John Sweeney, David Bourke, John Coll, Stephen Flood, Michael Gormally, Julia Hall, Jackie McGloughlin, Conor Murphy, Nichola Salmon, Micheline Sheehy Skeffington and David Smyth (2012). Climate Change: Adapting Ireland Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland, Government Publications. (submitted)

 

2011

Bastola, S., Murphy, C. and Sweeney, J. (2011) The role of hydrological modelling uncertainties in climate change impact assessments of Irish river catchments. Advances in Water Resources 34, 5, 562-567 doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2011.01.008

Bastola, S., Murphy, C. and Sweeney, J. (2011) Sensitivity of fluvial flood risk in Irish catchments to the range of IPCC AR4 climate change scenarios. Science of the Total Environmentdoi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.08.042

Hall, J. and Murphy, C. (2011) Robust Adaptation Assessment ­ Climate Change and  Water Supply. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management 3(3), 1756-8692.

Murphy, C., Bastola, S., Hall, J., Harrigan, S., Murphy, N., Holman, C. (2011) Against a ‘wait and see' approach in adapting to climate change. Irish Geography 44(1), 81-95.

Bastola, S., Murphy, C. and Sweeney, J. (2011) Evaluation of the transferability of hydrological model parameters for simulations under changed climatic conditions. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 8, 5891-5915, 2011. www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci discuss.net/8/5891/2011/ doi:10.5194/hessd-8-5891-2011

Bastola, S., Kumar, S., Murphy, C. and Sweeney, J. (2011) Climate Change and Soil Hydrology: European Perspectives, in Shukla, M.K. (Ed.) Soil Hydrology, Land Use and Agriculture: Measurement and Modelling. CABI, 416pp ISBN 978-1845937973.

Murphy, C., Barnard, L., Barrett, P., Barry, S., Boggan, S., Butler, J., Cadogan, N., Flynn, E., Lynch, A., McTeigue, C., Moran, E., Moss, R., Mulholland, S., O’Driscoll, S., O’Connor, M., and Watts, L. (2011) Adapting to Climate Change: The urgency for action and some challenges to begin. Irish Environment. http://irishenvironment.com/irishenvironment/articles/articles.html

Murphy, C. (2011) Flood Estimation in Ungauged Catchments. In Office of Public Works (OPW) Flood Studies Update for Ireland (in press)

2010

Hall J. and Murphy, C. (2010) Vulnerability analysis of future public water supply under changing climate conditions: A study of the Moy catchment, western Ireland, Water Resource Management, Volume 24, Number 13, 3527-3545

Murphy, C. and Fealy, R. (2010) Climate Change Impacts for Ireland. Part 2: Changes in Key Climatic Variables. Geographical Viewpoint, 38, pp 29-43

Rowan Fealy, Norman Allott, Ciaran Broderick, Elvira de Eyto, Mary Dillane, Rachel Marie Erdil, Eleanor Jennings, Karen McCrann, Conor Murphy, Ciar O'Toole, Russell Poole, Ger Rogan, Liz Ryder, David Taylor, Ken Whelan and Jonathan White (2010) RESCALE: Review and Simulate Climate and Catchment Responses at Burrishoole. Marine Institute, Rinville, Oranmore, Co. Galway, Ireland. ISSN: 2009 3195

Murphy, C. (2010) After the Floods; Investing in adaptation now. Irish Construction Industry Journal, Dec 2010, pp15-16

Hall, J. and Murphy, C. (2010) Robust adaptation assessment - Climate change and the water supply sector. Climate2010 - Climate Change and the Sustainable Management of Water Resources, On-line Conference - http://www.climate2010.net/de/papers/1/119

Murphy, C. (2010) Climate and the catchment environment. Proceedings of the Marine Environment Researchers' Workshop, Oranmore, Galway.

 

Pre 2010

Murphy, C. and Fealy, R. (2009) 'Climate Change Impacts for Ireland. Part 1: The Global Context and Modelling the Future' Geographical Viewpoint, 37 pp 19-24

Fealy, R. and Murphy, C. (2009) 'The Likely Physical Impacts of Future Climate Change on Inland Waterways and the Coastal Environment in Ireland' in Climate Change, Heritage and Tourism: Implications for Ireland's Coast and Inland Waterways Kelly, B and Stack, M (eds) The Heritage Council of Ireland Series pp 39-54

Fealy, R., Bates, R., McElwain, L., Sweeney, J. and Murphy, C. (2009) The Science of Climate Change. A Report prepared by the Climate Change Working group of the Institute of European Affairs Dublin. ISBN 1-187109-96-6

Murphy, C. and Fealy, R. (2009) ‘Climate Change: Meeting the Challenge of Adaptation', in Critical Infrastructure: Adaptation for Climate Change. The Irish Academy of Engineering, Dublin. ISBN 1-898012-09-1

Murphy, C. (2009) Climate Change: A Global Problem with Local Solutions. Council Review: Journal of Irish County and City Managers.

Murphy, C. and Charlton, R. (2008) "Climate Change and Water Resources in Ireland" In Sweeney, J. (ed) Climate Change: Refining the Impacts, Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland, Government Publications.

Sweeney, J., Murphy, C., Fealy, R. and Charlton, R. (2007) Climate change scenarios and challenges for the water environment, in Ireland At Risk- Water, The Irish Academy of Engineering, Dublin. ISBN No.: 1898 012 938

Murphy, C., Fealy, R., Charlton, R. and Sweeney, J. (2006) The reliability of an 'off-the-shelf' conceptual rainfall runoff model for use in climate impact assessment: uncertainty quantification using Latin hypercube sampling, Area, 38,1, 65-78

Charlton, R., Fealy, R., Moore, S., Sweeney, J. and Murphy, C. (2006) Assessing the impact of climate change on water supply and flood hazard in Ireland using statistical downscaling and hydrological modelling techniques. Climatic Change, 74, 4, 475-491.

Fealy, R., Murphy, C., McElwain, L. and Sweeney, J. (2006) The Isle of Man Climate Change Scoping Study: Future Climate Change Scenarios and Impacts. Report prepared for Acclimatise and the Department of Local Government pp1-23.

Murphy. C., Fealy, R., Charlton, R. and Sweeney, J. (2005) Changing Precipitation Scenarios: Preliminary implications for groundwater flow systems and planning. Proceedings of the  25th Anniversary Conference on Groundwater in Ireland.

Murphy, C., Fealy, R., Charlton, R.and Sweeney, J. (2004) Uncertainty in a counceptual rainfall runoff model: model conditioning for climate change impact assessment and the application of GLUE using Latin Hypercube Sampling. Proceedings of the National Hydrology Seminar, Tullamore, 2004.

Sweeney, J., Charlton, R., Fealy, R. and Murphy, C. (2003) Climate Scenarios for Mid-Century and some preliminary perspectives on engineering implications. Proceedings of the National Hydrology Seminar, Tullamore, 2003.

Recent Funding and Awards

2012

Environmental Protection Agency Conference Travel Grant (EPA) Total €1,000

Establishing seasonal forecasts of river flow through advanced understanding of hydro-climate links Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology (IRCSET)  Total €67,000 (With Shaun Harrigan)

Transformative Engagement Network (TEN) Programme of Strategic Cooperation between Irish Aid and Higher Education and Research Institutes, Round 3. Total €653,000. Large Scale Project with Prof. Anne Ryan (PI) and Dr. Bernie Grummel, Department of Adult and Community Education, Prof. Martin Downes, Department of Biology and Mavuto Tembo, Department of Geography, NUIM

 

2011

Fulbright Specialist Program In Collaboration with Professor William Solecki, CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities (CISC), Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)

2010

HydroDetect: The Identification and Assessment of Climate Change Indicators for Irish Benchmark Network. In collaboration with Prof. Robert L. Wilby, Department of Geography, Loughborough University, UK. Funded by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science, Technology, Research & Innovation for the Environment Climate Change Research Programme (CCRP) 2006 2013. Total €85,000

Making Climate Change Real. In collaboration with Dept. of Education and Dept. of Adult and Community Education, NUIM National Digital Learning Respository With Sept. of Adult Education. Total €6,000

2008

Quantifying the cascade of uncertainty in climate change impacts in the water sector. Funding Body: Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Research Frontiers Program. Total €170,000

Climate Change Research Programme, Co-ordination, Communication and Adaptation for Climate Change in Ireland: an Integrated Approach In Collaboration with Prof. J Sweeney, Dr. R. Fealy NUIM and the Botany Dept. NUI Galway. Funding Body: Environmental Protection Agency. Total €941,000

2007

Flood Studies Update for Ireland: Develop algorithms for flood prediction in ungauged catchments Funding Body: Office of Public Works Total €79,628

The impact of climate change on soil hydrology and degradation: an assessment of the vulnerabilities in Ireland Funding Body: Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Total €170,000

Assessing the robustness of adaptation decisions in water resource management to uncertainty in climate impact assessment. Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) Total €67,000

Climate and the Catchment Environment In collaboration with the Centre for Environment, Trinity College Dublin, and Dr. R. Fealy NUIM. Funding Body: Marine Institute/SSTI Total €265,000

Transformative Education Network: Universities and Communities Responding to Climate Change and Food Security. In Collaboration with NUIM (Dept. of Biology, Dept. of Adult and Community Education), Mzuzu University and Chancellor College, Malawi and University of Zambia, Zambia. Irish Aid Total €50,000

Recent Presentations

2012

Evaluating long-term trends in mean-and high-river flows using a network of reference stations in Ireland. American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, USA Dec 2012 (Invited)

Climate or land-use change? Complexities in the attribution of trends in river flow records. American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, USA. Dec 2012.

Transformative Engagement Network. Development Studies Association – Ireland Annual Conference. Responding to the global crises: Linking research, policy and practice. 5th September 2012, Dublin City University

Social contracts as Adaptation to Climate Change a Natural Experiment in Ireland and UK. Conference of Irish Geographers, Trinity College Dublin, May 2012

Transition Theory, Urban Water Supply and Tipping Points in the Context of Climate Change. IWA World Congress on Water, Climate and Energy, Dublin May 2012

Sensitivity of design standards for flood risk reduction to uncertainty in future climate simulations.  IWA World Congress on Water, Climate and Energy, Dublin May 2012.

Transition theory, tipping points and new approaches to water management in an era of change EUROGEO 2012: Geography and Global Understanding: Connecting the Sciences European Association of Geographers, Dublin 1-2 June 2012

Workshop organizer -Climate Change – Planning for Adaptation. Workshop – IWA World Congress on Water, Climate and Energy, Dublin May 2012

Solecki, W.D. and Murphy, C. (2012) Coupled Human-Natural Urban System Tipping Points as Opportunities and Challenges for Resilience  and Sustainability Analysis and Practice. Planet Under Pressure, London, March 2012.

Climate Change, Urbanisation and Water: Establishing a case study catchment in Dublin Ireland. Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) New York, Feb. 2012

Transition Theory, Coupled Human-Natural Systems, and Geography: Cross-Connections and Opportunities for Analysis. Panel Session, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) New York, Feb. 2012

Urbanisation, Climate Change and Hydrology 1: Intersections and Management for more Sustainable Cities – Session Organiser. Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) New York, Feb. 2012

Urbanisation, Climate Change and Hydrology 2: GIS and Modelling. Session Organiser. Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) New York, Feb. 2012

Climate Change – Causes, consequences and thinking about the future. Piper’s Hill Community College, Naas, Co. Kildare, Feb. 2012.

Uncertainties in Future Flood Risk; the value of alternative approaches. Enhancing academic capacity to address increased flood management challenges: a multi­disciplinary symposium. Symposium Address, National University of Ireland, Galway, March 2012.

Discussant: Flooding in Ireland: Perceptions, Preparedness and Policy Symposium. University College Dublin, March 2012.

2010/2011

C. Murphy and J. Hall (2011) A Framework for Adapting to Climate Change in Socio-Ecological Systems. Conference of Irish Geographers, Department of Geography,  MIC Limerick, May 2011.

Murphy, C., Bastola, S and Sweeney, J (2011) The role of hydrological modelling uncertainties in climate change impact assessment. Adapting water management to
climate change: Putting our science into practice. British Hydrological Society, Peter Wolfe Event, Loughborough University, UK, 12-13 April 2011

Neil Adger, Irene Lorenzoni, Tara Quinn, Conor Murphy and John Sweeney. Social contracts underpinning action on disasters: lessons for resilience. Resilience 2011: Resilience, Innovation and Sustainablity; Navigating the Complexities of Global Change. Second International Science and Policy Conference. Tempe, Arizona, USA. March 11-16, 2011

Murphy, C. (2011) An Experiment in Enquiry Based Learning: New, Policy Relevant Knowledge from an Undergraduate Project. NUI Maynooth Teaching and Learning Showcase, May 2011.

Grummel , B., Murphy, C., Murphy, N., Rickard, A., McAvina, C. ,Reid, K.A. and Kenny, M. (2011) Making Climate Change Real: Enhanced Learning Objects for Climate Change. NUI Maynooth Teaching and Learning Showcase, May 2011.

McAvinia, C. Grummell, B. Rickard, A. Reid, K. Kenny. M. and C. Murphy (2010) Educating for Climate Change: developing students’ understanding of the local impacts of climate change atEducational Studies Association of Ireland Conference, 25-27 March, Dundalk

Flood Estimation in Ungauged Catchments in Ireland: an update of the Flood Studies Report 1975. Conference of Irish Geographers, Dept. of Geography, NUI Maynooth, Ireland, 1st May 2010

Adapting to climate change in County Wexford. Climate Change and You: Leading the Local Response. Wexford County Development Board. Riverside Court Hotel, Enniscorthy, 21st April 2010.

Climate Change - why we need to act now. National Water Services and Flood Management Conference, Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoighre, 11th March 2010

Opening Address: Adaptation: preparing for climate change. Inaugural National Emergency Management Summit. Flood Risk Management, Croke Park, 26th May, 2010

Climate and Catchment. Sea Change, Marine Environment Researchers' Workshop North Atlantic Drift Auditorium Marine Institute, Oranmore, Co. Galway, 20th January 2010

Climate Change: Observations, Scenarios and Impacts for Ireland. Commission for Energy Regulation Open Day, Feb., 2010

Robust climate change adaptation assessment in the water supply sector, EPA National Research Conference 2010, Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin, Ireland, 23 June 2010

Robust Adaptation to Climate Change for the Public Water Supply Sector in Ireland. Water 2010, Hydrology, Hydraulics and Water Resources in an Uncertain Environment. Quebec City, Canada, July 2010.

Role of hydrological model uncertainties in climate change impact studies, HydroPredict' 2010: 20-23 September 2010 Prague, Czech Republic

Hall, J. and Murphy, C. Incorporating Climate Change Uncertainty into Adaptation Planning for Water Resources, 11th Annual IAHR-BW Colloquium, Stuttgart, Germany; 25th November 2010. This poster received the First Prize in the "Best Poster Competition" at the Colloquium

Hall, J. and Murphy, C. Incorporating Uncertainty into Adaptation Planning for Water Supply System, Irish National Hydrology Conference, Athlone, Ireland 16 November 2010.

Bastola, S, Murphy C, Sweeney, J. The role of hydrological model structure in climate change impact studies. Hydrology Conference 2010, San Diego, California, USA, 11-13 Oct., 2010.

 

Current Research Supervision

 Phd
Julia Hall ‘Incorporating climate change considerations into adaptation planning for water resources in Ireland.’

Ciaran Broderick ‘Quantifying Uncertainties in Climate Change Scenarios and Hydrological Responses: A Case Study of the Burrishoole Catchment' (with Dr. Rowan Fealy, NUIM)

Shaun Harrigan

Simon Noone

 

Completed Supervision

Post-Doctoral

Dr. Satish Bastola Quantifying the cascade of uncertainty in climate change impacts in the water sector   07/2009 - 06/2012

Dr. Suresh Kumar The impact of climate change on soil hydrology and degradation: an assessment of the vulnerabilities in Ireland 10/2007 09/2010

M.Litt

Oliver Nicholson (part-time) ‘History of flooding in the Munster Blackwater: changes in the frequency and timing of large floods?’

Nuala Murphy (2010) Assessing the robustness of adapatation decisions in water resources management to uncertainty in climate change impact assessment.

Research Assistants

Shaun Harrigan (RA) HydroDetect: Identification of a Benchmark Network of River Flow Gauges for Climate Change Monitoring and Detection 01/2011 12/2011

Julia Hall (RA)  HydroDetect: Identification of a Benchmark Network of River Flow Gauges for Climate Change Monitoring and Detection   04/2011 11/2011

Colin Holman (RA)  Automation of Hydrological Models and Research for Wexford CoCo       06/2009 09/2009

Shane Carey Internship: Comparison of techniques for flood estimation in ungauged catchments  06/2010 09/2010

Taught Masters

Simon Noone (2012) Reconstruction of Irish River flow Records using Archived Rainfall Data.

Colin Brennan (2012) Public Perceptions of climate change in Ireland: The effects of extreme weather events on public opinion.

Sinead O’Brien (2012) A Trend Detection Study of High Flows in Irish River Flow Records

Derek Monaghan (2012) The impact of climate change on low flows in east and south-east of Ireland

Elaine Egan (2012) Arterial drainage, land use change and hydrological processes: a study of the Boyne and Bonet catchments

 Niamh Hand (2012) Flood estimation in ungauged catchments in Ireland – a comparison of methods

David Dixon (2012) Uncertainty in flood risk under climate change- role of extreme value distributions

Eimear Flynn (2011) ‘Public Perceptions of and Attitudes to Climate Change’
Liam Barnard (2011) ‘The 2009 Flood Response: Lessons for Adaptation’
Marie O Connor (2011) ‘Flood-related health impacts in Ireland: An assessment of Cork City following the 2009 flood.’
Pat Barrett (2011) ‘The validity of calibrating rainfall-runoff models against historical observed data for use in climate change studies’
Aoibhinn Lynch (2011) ‘The identification of appropriate flow indices for monitoring climate change in Irish river flow records’
Elizabeth Moran (2011) ‘Trends in Irish Rainfall Records’
Susan O Driscoll (2011) ‘Estimating the sensitivity of river flows to changes in precipitation and potential evapotransporation’

Harrigan, Shaun (2010) ‘Detection of climate change in Irish streamflow records’
Julie Greeb (2010) ‘Climate Change and the Irish Print Media’
Lorna Cooper (2010) ‘Climate change, flooding and adaptation for the River Slaney.’
Jenna Crotty (2010) ‘The impact of climate change on groundwater recharge’
Elaine OBeirne Morrissey (2010) ‘Impact of climate change on critical infrastructure’
Anne-Marie Corrigan (2010) ‘Flood disaster of 2009: a more common event in the future?’

Jaimie Chellar (2009) ‘Reducing Uncertainty in Hydrological Models Using Artificial Neural Networks’
Colin Holman (2009) ‘Climate change impact study of uncertainty for the Brosna river catchment using the GLUE methodology with monte-carlo sampling and HYSIM’

Diana Iulia Catargiu Doyle (2007) ‘Magnetic Susceptibility Screening of Anthropogenic Impact on the Avoca Catchment, South East Ireland. ‘
Eilish Meaney (2007) ‘The Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources for the South East River Basin District.

Ciaran Broderick (2006) ‘Assessing the impacts of climate change on Ireland’s East Coast: A Water Resource Assessment.’
Vincent Casey (2006) ‘Climate Change Impact Assessment: An Analysis of the Uncertainty derived from conceptual rainfall runoff models’