All my personal and research items are small but under the magnifying glass
(microscope in the case of my research) we can discover amazing detail! For my research the ability to visually increase the size of the structures I am studying is absolutely essential. The piece of stone is a kind of arrowhead that can be found very easily in Ireland. I remember the moment when my father showed me the grooves on the side of this arrowhead and I realised that I was holding something in my hand that had been made by the hand of a person who lived a very long time ago in history.
These are a collection of fossils which fascinated me as a child… for a time I thought that I wanted to be a paleontologist! Here is a fossilised dinosaur tooth and pieces of dinosaur eggshells as well as the even more ancient trilobite fossils.
These are a collection of fossils which fascinated me as a child… for a time I thought that I wanted to be a paleontologist! Here is a fossilised dinosaur tooth and pieces of dinosaur eggshells as well as the even more ancient trilobite fossils.
A selection of dissection tools which I use in my research. We use these tools to dissect the fruit fly larval models of disease so that we can study their motor neurons.
The larvae are very small (smaller than a grain of rice) so neurosurgery on them is tricky and has to be carried out under a microscope with these fine scissors and pins (the pins are so small that we have to use forceps to hold them!). There are three fruit flies mounted on the microscope slide.
Originally from Dublin, Niamh currently lives in Churchtown with her partner Mike. Their four-year-old son Senan keeps life busy and interesting. These days, when not in the lab, Niamh loves to have a glass of wine with friends and has just finished the couch-to-5k
Originally from Dublin, Niamh currently lives in Churchtown with her partner Mike. Their four-year-old son Senan keeps life busy and interesting. These days, when not in the lab, Niamh loves to have a glass of wine with friends and has just finished the couch-to-5k
