Professor

ICARUS (Director)
Room 16
Rhetoric House
or
1.10 St. Annes
Tel: +353 1 708 3684 / 6835
E-mail: John.Sweeney@nuim.ie

Office Hours

Biography

Professor John Sweeney has been a lecturer at the Geography Department NUI Maynooth, since 1978. He received a First Class Honours B.Sc. from the University of Glasgow in 1974 and was a awarded a PhD also from Glasgow in 1980. John has taught courses primarily related to climatology, but he has also taught biogeography, geomorphology and environmental resource management and has taught and researched at a number of universities in North America and Africa. He has also been involved in course design and curriculum development matters at second and third levels.

Over the past 30 years he has published approximately 60 scientific papers and edited/co-authored 4 texts on various aspects of climatology and climate change in Ireland. He has served a number of national academic societies as President, Secretary and Treasurer as well as being the Irish representative on a number of European academic bodies. He currently leads a number of nationally funded funded research projects examining various aspects of climate change in Ireland. As one of the contributing Authors and Review Editors of the recently published Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), John shared with several hundred other climatologists the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Research Interests

Climate Change, Climatology, Air Pollution

Funded Research, Grants and Awards

Publications

• Sweeney, J. ed. (2008) Climate Change in Ireland: Refining the Impacts. Environmental Johnstown Castle, Wexford, Environmental Protection Agency. In Press.
• Sweeney, J. (2007) A Revision of our Attitudes towards the Natural World is Required, In. Mulholland, J.(Ed.), The Challenge for Government: Priorities for the Next Five Years. Essays from the 2007 MacGill Summer School. The Liffey Press, Dublin, 212-223.
• Fealy, R. and Sweeney, J., (2008) Statistical Downscaling of Temperature, Radiation and Potential Evapotranspiration to Produce a Multiple GCM Ensemble Mean for a Selection of Sites in Ireland, Irish Geography 41(1), 1-27.
• McElwain, L. and Sweeney, J. and (2007) Key Meteorological Indicators of Climate Change in Ireland. Johnstown Castle, Wexford, Environmental Protection Agency. 31pp.
• McElwain, L. and Sweeney, J. (2007) Implications of the EU Climate Protection Target for Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, Johnstown Castle, Wexford. 25pp.
• Sweeney, J. (2007) (Contributing Author in:) Alcamo, J., J.M. Moreno, B. Nováky, M. Bindi, R. Corobov, R.J.N. Devoy, C. Giannakopoulos, E. Martin, J.E. Olesen, A. Shvidenko, ‘Europe’, in M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J.van der Linden and C.E. Hanson (Eds.) Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 541-580.
• Sweeney, J. (2007) (Review Editor in:) Easterling, W.E., P.K. Aggarwal, P. Batima, K.M. Brander, L. Erda, S.M. Howden, A. Kirilenko, J. Morton, J.-F. Soussana, J. Schmidhuber and F.N. Tubiello, ‘Food, Fibre and Forest products’ in  M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson (Eds.) Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 273-313.
• Sweeney, J. and Murphy, C., Charlton, R. and Fealy, R. (2007) ‘Climate change scenarios and challenges for the water environment’, In: Ireland at Risk No. 1: The impact of climate change on the water environment, The Irish Academy of Engineering, Dublin, 9-11.
• Fealy, R and Sweeney, J. (2007)  ‘Identification of frequency changes in synoptic circulation types and consequences for glacier mass balance in Norway’, Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography 61(2), 76-91
• Fealy, R and Sweeney, J. (2007) ‘Statistical downscaling of precipitation for a selection of sites in Ireland employing a generalised linear modelling approach’, International Journal of Climatology. (27, 20083-2094)
• Sweeney, J. (2007) ‘Ulster faces Floods and Droughts’, Irish Woodturners’ Guild Journal 40, 20-21.
• Sweeney, J. (2007) ‘The Impact of Climate Change on Irish Agriculture’, Proceedings of the Agricultural Forum, Tullamore, 12th March 145-50.

Conferences Papers and Public Presentations

• ‘Repositioning Geography and Repositioning Ireland in a Changing Climate’
  30th January 2008
  Seminar to Department of Geography, UCC.
  National University of Ireland, Cork. Cork.
• ‘Climate Change in Ireland: Scenarios, Impacts and Some Preliminary Observations Regarding Health Effects’
  1st February 2008
  Belfast Healthy Cities Conference,
  Belfast Castle, Belfast.
• ‘Climate Change: Adapting to the Changing Extremes’
  7th February 2008
  Today’s Environmental Research: Tomorrow’s Environmental Protection.
  Environmental Research Conference,
  Environmental Protection Agency, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin.
• ‘Climate Change in Ireland: The Political Challenge’
  11th February 2008
  Unite 4 Our Planet,
  Address to Labour Party Thematic Conference,
  Mansion House, Dublin.
• ‘Global Warming: its Impact on Ireland’
  16th February 2008
  Ireland and Global Warming conference,
  Christians in Science (Ireland),
  Spires Conference Centre, Belfast.
• ‘Climate Change and Agriculture in Ireland’,
  19th February 2008
  Future Land Use: Food or Energy Production?,
  Lismullin Institute Farming Seminar,
  Lismullin, Co. Meath.
• ‘Repositioning Geography and Repositioning Ireland in a Changing Climate’
  21st February 2008
  Presidential Address: Geographical Society of Ireland,Trinity College Dublin.
• ‘Climate Change and the SEA/EIA Process’
  28th March 2008
  Invited lecture to M.A. (Environmental Impact Analysis),
  University College Dublin.
• ‘Climate Change: Fact, Fiction, Our Future’
  1st April 2008
  Hennessy Memorial Lecture,
  Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland,
  Dublin
• ‘Climate Change in Northern Ireland: Fact, Fiction or Our Future’
  29th April 2008
  St. Mary’s College,
  Belfast.
• ‘Climate Change in Ireland: Time for Adaptation’
  8th October 2008
  Invited Seminar Presentation,
  School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy,
  UCD, Dublin.
• ‘The Science and Economics of Climate Change in Ireland’
  9th October 2008
  Keynote Address,
  Business in the Community: Irish CEO Conference,
  Dublin.
• ‘Climate and Climate Change in Ireland’
  10th October 2008
  Maynooth Post Primary School,
  Maynooth
• ‘Leadership: The New Frontier for Capital Cities’
  14th October 2008
  ‘Climate Change and EU Capital Cities,Union of Capitals of the European Union General Assembly 2008,
  Dublin City Council,
  Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin.
• ‘The Global Effects of Climate Change’
  16th October 2008
  Keynote Address,
  Conference: ‘The Way Forward for Local Authorities’, Dublin City Council, Croke Park, Dublin.

Media Appearances (2007)

Television:

RTE’s ‘Prime Time’, ‘EcoEye’, ‘6-One & 9 o’clock News’ and ‘The Investigators’ Series.  TV3’s ‘Ireland AM’ and ‘Seioge and O’Shea’.

Radio:

RTE’s ‘Morning Ireland’, ‘Quantum Leap’, ‘Today with Pat Kenny’, ‘Drivetime’. Today FM’s ‘The Last Word’. Newstalk’s ‘The wide Angle’, and ‘Geogre Hook’ and BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Evening Extra’.

External Assignments and Public Service

• Irish National Delegate, ESF/EU COST Domain Committee, Earth System Science and Environmental Management, Brussels (2006)
• Rapporteur on COST Action 633 (Suspended Particulates and Health) (2006)
• Contributing Author and Review Editor, Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organisation (2005-07)
• Minister of the Environment’s nomination to serve on the Advisory Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency (2006-09)

Membership of Professional Bodies

• President, Geographical Society of Ireland (2006-2008)
• Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society
• Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
• Research Associate, National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis.
• Member of the Association of British Climatologists
• Member of the Geographical Society of Ireland
• Member of the Irish Association for Quaternary Studies
• Member of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
• Member of the Geographical Association
• Member of An Taisce
• Member of Kildare County Council Heritage Forum (2004-07)