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Dr. John Connolly

Kinsella Assistant Professor (Geography)
      
Profile Photo

Dr. John Connolly

Kinsella Assistant Professor (Geography)

 JOHN.CONNOLLY@tcd.ie

 


Dr. John Connolly is an Environmental Geographer, Principal Investigator and leads the Trinity Geospatial & Environmental Modelling Group (TGEM). TGEM develops geospatial methods, modelling and machine learning to refine our knowledge of natural ecosystems, particularly peatlands. John pioneered methods for the spatial quantification of drains on peatlands using high-resolution remote sensing. His work spans Ireland, the Arctic and other regions globally, focusing on landscape carbon dynamics, land-cover change, peatland mapping and the application of Earth observation to environmental monitoring.
Project Title
 RePEAT- A Modern Resurvey of Mapped Irish Peatlands to Refine Assessment of Land Use Change and Progress Greenhouse Gas Removal and Emissions Inventories
From
01-09-2021
To
31-08-2024
Summary
Funding Agency
DAFM
Project Type
Research
Project Title
 Satellite-driven model to upscale Irish CO2 Net Ecosystem Exchange (ICONEEx).
From
May 2023
To
April 2026
Summary
Funding Agency
EPA
Project Title
 Irish Peatland Resilience
From
01-01-2022
To
31-12-2023
Summary
Funding Agency
EPA
Project Type
Research
Project Title
 Habitat Mapping, Monitoring and Assessment using High-Resolution Imagery
From
2019
To
2023
Summary
Funding Agency
EPA
Project Title
 Tellus Peatmap
From
To
Summary
Funding Agency
GSI

Page 1 of 3
Details Date
Co-developed a white paper for Government in 2020 that led to the investment of €126 million in the Peatlands Climate Action Scheme (PCAS). PCAS is responsible for the rewetting of 30,000 hectares of former Bord na Mona Blanket bog 03/12/2020
Journal Reviewer - Geoderma 2021
Member of Editorial Board for Frontiers in Earth Science 2019
Treasurer of the Geomorphological Association of Ireland 2021 to 2024
External PhD examiner for Dept. of Geography at Maynooth University 2024
Invitation to be External Examiner for PhD student at the University of the Highlands and Islands 2021
Invited to join a OPW hiring Board for a GIS Grade 2 position. 2024
Invited to be a Steering Committee member for Peatland Finance Ireland 2023
Invited member of scientific advisory board for CSO Ecosystem Extent Accounts committee and the CSO Expert Group on Global Climate Regulation 2023
Invited Reviewer - Journal of Hydrology 2022
Invited Reviewer - Biogeosciences 2022
Invited reviewer - Frontiers in Earth Science 2022
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
French Basic Basic Medium
Details Date From Date To
Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) 2019 2023
International Peatland Society (IPS) 2004 2026
Geographical Society of Ireland (GSI) 2012 2024
Geomorphological Association of Ireland 2023 2026
Irish Geomorphological Society (IGGY) 2017 2023
European Geosciences Union 2020 2025
American Geosciences Union 2013 2014
Alice M Milner, Angela Gallego-Sala, Julie Loisel, Michelle M McKeown, Monika Ruwaimana, Johanna Menges, Thomas P Roland, Crystal A.E Ahiable, Leonard O Akwany, Paola Alarcon-Prado, Gusti Anshari, Linto Apalaat, Andy J Baird, Mariusz B"k, Jean Jacques Bambuta Boole, Stephanie E Batten, Yannick Beaudoin, Michel Bechtold, Zhao-Jun Bu, Sri Parwati Murwani Budisusanti, Juan C Benavides, Sakonvan Chawchai, Rodney A Chimner, Alexander R Cobb, Lydia E.S Cole, John Connolly, Janet Coral Calvo Vargas, Colin J Courtney-Mustaphi, Scott J Davidson, Angeles de la Peña, Emma Duley, Samer Elshehawi, Ingrid Espinoza León, Sarah A Finklestein, Michelle Garneau, Nicholas T Girkin, Erin Glen, Samantha Grover, PietLouis Grundling, Josephine N Handley, Carole Helfter, Kristell Hergoualc, Alison M Hoyt, Xianyu Huang47, Gerard Imani, Alexander James, Miriam C Jones, Chantal Kabonyi Nzabandora, Carol Kagaba, Frank Kansiime, Randall K Kolka, Gerbrand Koren, Atte Korhola, Haruni Krisnawati, Ritesh Kumar, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Kristiina Lång, Tuula Larmola, Simon L Lewis, Omar R Lopez, Efrén López-Blanco, Massimo Lupascu, Mónica Maldonado-Fonken, Robert Marchant, Katarzyna Marcisz, Natalia G Mazei, Yuri A Mazei, Michel Mbasi, Lulie Melling, Lera Miles, Luca Montanarella, Patrick T Moss, Fabiola Murgía-Flores, Minh-Ky NGuyen, Nisa Novita, Dylan JS Oliver, Emuobosa Akpo Orijemie, Mitsuru Osaki, Susan E Page, Richard D Pancost, Shilpa Pandey, Nichole Püschel Hoeneisen, Christian H Quintana Zagaceta, Amil S Ratnayake, Mark S Reed, Line Rochefort, Bárbara Saavedra, Japheth Samuel , Patrick Scheel, Hans Schutten, Florian Siegert, Caroline Signori-Müller , Maria Strack, Fred Stolle, Graeme T Swindles, Franziska Tanneberger, Merritt R. Turetsky99, Adriana B Urciuolo, Minna Väliranta, Gert Verstraeten, Matthew Warren, Kara L Webster, Jennie Whinam, Dylan M Young, Zicheng Yu, Hui Zhang, Priority research questions in global peatland science, Communications Earth & Environment, 2026, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Chelsea Clifford, Magdalena Bieroza, Stewart J. Clarke, Amy Pickard, Michael J. Stratigos, Matthew J. Hill, Nejem Raheem, Corianne Tatariw, Paul J. Wood, Iván Arismendi, Joachim Audet, Daniel Avilés, Jordanna N. Bergman, Antony G. Brown, Rachel J. Burns, John Connolly, Sarah Cook, Julie Crabot, Wyatt F. Cross, Joshua Dean, Chris Evans, Owen Fenton, Laurie E. Friday, Kieran J. Gething, Guillermo Giannico, Wahaj Habib, Eliza Maher Hasselquist, Nathaniel M. Heili, Judith van der Knaap, Sarian Kosten, Alan Law, Gea H. van der Lee, Kate L. Mathers, John Morgan, Hamidreza Rahimi, Carl D. Sayer, Mans Schepers, Rosalind F. Shaw, Peter C. Smiley, Shannon L. Speir, Jeffrey S. Strock, Quinten Struik, Jennifer L. Tank, Hao Wang, Jackie R. Webb, Alex J. Webster, Zhifeng Yan, Peta Zivec, Mike Peacock, Lines in the landscape, Communications Earth & Environment, 6, (1), 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Louis Gilet, Wahaj Habib; Elena Aitova; Kenneth A. Byrne; Catherine A. Farrell; Owen Fenton; Raymond Flynn; Dave O'Leary; Terry R. Morley; Pat Tuohy; Shane Regan; Florence Renou-Wilson; David Wilson; John Connolly, Peatland use and peat soil land cover types in Ireland: Implications for the calculation of GHG emissions in the context of climate action, Land Use Policy, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Webster, Kara; Strack, Maria; Balliston, Nicole; Davies, Marissa; Hettinga, Katie; Hunter, Miranda; Kleinke, Kimberly; Schmidt, Megan; Barreto, Carlos; Bird, Melanie; Blann, Kristen; Bona, Kelly Ann; Cassidy, Alison; Connolly, John; Davidson, Scott; Fedorchuk, Lee; Garneau, Michelle; Harris, Lorna; He, Hongxing; Howie, Sarah; Kirkwood, Adam; Pontone, Nicholas; Richardson, Karen; Sanderson, Nicole; Seutin, Gilles; Xu, Bin; Yin, Xiangbo, Data and knowledge needs for improving science and policy for peatlands in Canada in a changing world: Insights from Global Peatlands Initiative Workshop, June 2023, FACETS, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Nima Sabokrouhiyeh, John Connolly, Ype van der Veld and Nicholas Kettridge, Peatland Resilience and Presence Under National Climate Gradients: Implications for Peatland Restoration Strategies, Science of the Total Environment, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Junbin Zhao, Simon Weldon, Alexandra Barthelmes, Erin Swails, Kristell Hergoualc"h, Ülo Mander, Chunjing Qiu, John Connolly, Whendee L. Silver, David I. Campbell, Correction to: Global observation gaps of peatland greenhouse gas balances: needs and obstacles, Biogeochemistry, 168, (2), 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
John Connolly, Charmaine Cruz, James R. Martin, Jerome O Connell, Kevin McGuinness and Philip M. Perrin, Habitat Mapping, Assessment and Monitoring with High-resolution Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle Imagery (iHabiMap), Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland), June, 2025, Report, PUBLISHED  URL
Wahaj Habib, Remi Cresson, Kevin McGuinness, John Connolly, Mapping artificial drainage on Peatlands - A national scale assessment of Irish raised bogs using sub-meter aerial imagery and deep learning methods, Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Budiman Minasny, Diana Vigah Adetsu, Rebekka R.E. Artz, Matt Aitkenhead, Nikki Baggaley, Alexandra Barthelmes, Amélie Beucher, Jean Caron, Giulia Conchedda, John Connolly, Raphaël Deragon, Chris Evans, Kjetil Fadnes, Dian Fiantis, Zisis Gagkas, Louis Gilet, Alessandro Gimona, Stephan Glatzel, Mogens H. Greve, Wahaj Habib, Kristell Hergoualc"h, Cecilie Hermansen, Darren B. Kidd, Triven Koganti, Dianna Kopansky, David Large, Tuula Larmola, Allan Lilly, Haojie Liu, Matthew Marcus, Maarit Middleton, Keith Morrison, Rasmus Jes Petersen, Tristan Quaife, Line Rochefort, Rudiyanto Rudiyanto, Linda Toca, Francesco N. Tubiello, Peter Lystbæk Weber, Simon Weldon, Wirastuti Widyatmanti, Jenny Williamson, Dominik Zak., Mapping and monitoring peatland conditions from global to field scale, Biogeochemistry, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
DeWaard, F., Connolly, J., Barthelmes, A., Joosten, H., Van der Linden, S., Remote sensing of peatland degradation: a review of the potentials, gaps, and challenges, Ecological Indicators, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
  

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Habib, W., Gilet, L., Connolly, J, Multi-Sensor, Importance-Guided Remote Sensing Classification Framework for Mapping Alpine Peatlands in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Power to the Peatlands, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, 2nd to 4th September, 2026, Notes: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/136uFr8nfAEh2D-N26IZ3Z1DxDx0Z5Dhb/view], Oral Presentation, PRESENTED
Habib, W., Moradi, E., Connolly, J., Mapping Land Use and Artificial Drainage in European Peatlands Using Satellite Data and Machine Learning, Power to the Peatlands, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, 2nd to 4th September, 2026, Oral Presentation, PRESENTED
Moradi, E., Habib, W. and Connolly, J, European Peatlands Under Degradation: Drainage and Land Use Change as Main Factors, International Conference on Land Degradation and Restoration, València, Spain, July 20th- July 26th, 2026, Oral Presentation, PRESENTED
Gilet, L., Habib, W., Flynn, R., Morley, T. R., and Connolly, J., Exploring the environmental importance of shallow peat soils and peaty soils in Ireland,, International Peatland Conference 2026, Tullamore, 8-11 June, 2026, Oral Presentation, PRESENTED
Gilet, L., Habib, W., Flynn, R., Morley, T. R., and Connolly, J, Integrating shallow peat soils and peaty soils into peat mapping endeavors and associated environmental assessment, Power to the Peatlands, Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, 2-4 September, 2026, Oral Presentation, PRESENTED
Girardello, M., Oton, G., Ceccherini, G., Garcia M., Migliavacca, M., Cescatti, A., and Connolly, J., Foundation-model embeddings predict global variation in forest structural diversity, Open-Earth-Monitor Global Workshop 2026, Barcelona, Spain, 7"9 October 2026, 2026, Oral Presentation, ACCEPTED
Girardello, M., Habib, W., and Connolly, J., Mind the gap: reconstructing vegetation dynamics in cloudy peatlands using multi-sensor satellite data, International Peatland Conference 2026, Tullamore, 2026, Oral Presentation, PRESENTED
Cross, H., and Connolly, J., Luggala peAtlaND watEr Retention Project (wetLANDER)., Discipline of Geography Postgraduate Symposium 2026, Dublin, 2026, Oral Presentation, PUBLISHED
Watts, A. F., and Connolly, J., Towards a blanket bog rehabilitation framework, Discipline of Geography Postgraduate Symposium 2026, Dublin, 2026, Oral Presentation, PRESENTED
Watts, A. F., W. Habib and J. Connolly, dentifying upland blanket bog drainage channels using machine learning and very high-resolution aerial remote sensing, Geomorphology Association Ireland (GAI) Annual Meeting 2026., University College Cork, 24th April, 2026, Oral Presentation, PRESENTED

  


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