Biography

Dr. Clarke's research focuses on risk and the built environment. She conducted her PhD entitled "Risk Assessment for Masonry Buildings due to Tunnelling-Induced Settlement" at University College Dublin. Since then, her research has focused on vulnerability and risk modelling for critical infrastructure networks due to natural hazards and climate change impacts. Dr. Clarke led the implementation of a novel quantitative risk methodology to determine the losses for two case study regions in Europe due to extreme hazard events, as part of the INFRARISK EU-funded H2020 project. More recently, she acted as Principal Investigator for the EPA-funded TACT project, which developed a risk assessment framework to quantify the costs of climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for land and maritime transport networks in Ireland.

Research Expertise

Nonlinear Waves, Hydrodynamics, Mathematical Oceanography, Nonlinear Analysis, Renewable Energy Technologies, Smart Grid, Wind Energy, Offshore Wind Turbines, Wave Energy, Structural Health Monitoring, Passive, Active and Semi-active Vibration Control, Random Vibrations, Wind & Earthquake Engineering, Time-frequency and Wavelet Analysis, Non-stationary Processes, Traffic Flow Theory and Control

Awards and Honours

• Best conference paper award in the 6th International Conference on Condition monitoring, British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, Dublin, IrelandJune 2009
• Best conference paper on 'Soil Dynamics' in the 13th Asian Regional Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, International Society of Soil mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), Calcutta, IndiaJan 2007
• Best paper award in the Proceedings of the Society of Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics, SECED, Bath, UK2005
• Best conference paper in the 7th Railway Engineering Conference, London, UK2004
• Dr K.S.Krishnan Research Fellow Award2004
• Guest Professor, Aalborg University, DenmarkJuly - Aug 2011
• Visiting Scholar, Rice University2004 & 2005
• Phil Doak Award, J Sound & Vibration2015 

Memberships

• Member IEI2002
• Member ASCE2006
• Member ASME2006
• Member IEEE2007

Research Expertise

Electricity Storage; Energy Conversion Processes or Cycles; Environmental Impacts, Interactions; Integration of Renewable Energy Systems; Nanotechnology; Optics; Photovoltaic systems, cells and modules manufacturing; Polymers; Renewable energies.

Awards and Honours

•  World Renewable Energy Network Pioneer Award2020
• Elected Fellow of Trinity College Dublin2018
• Ireland Champion of EU Research - Dept of Jobs Enterprise & Innovation (& Enterprise Ireland)2017
• TCD Kinsella Challenge-Based E3 Project Awardee (Collaborator)2021
• Invited Speaker to ERC - A Sustainable Future for Europe - The Contribution of Frontier Research2019
• H2020 IDEAS Project Awardee (Coordinator)2019
• Aurora - Role Model2018
• ERC Starter Grant Awardee2016
• Aurora - Advance HE's leadership development initiative2015
• Master in Arts (jure officii) - Trinity College Dublin (Honorary)2012
• Britain's Young Engineer, December 20032003
• Poster Prize Winner in Solar Applications at World Renewable Energy Congress, Cologne2002

 Memberships

•  Secretary of the Solar Energy Society of Ireland2006 – Present
• Member of the Association of ERC Grantees2022 – Present
• Member & Mentor of Global Women's Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET)2020 – Present
• Member of the International Solar Energy Society2000 – Present
• Committee Member of Women in Research Ireland2020 – Present
• Member of the Environmental Science Association of Ireland2007 – Present
• Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials2020 – Present

Biography

Biography

Research Expertise

Biography

Biography

Research Expertise

My research interests are mainly focused on Geotechnical and Offshore Engineering where I lead the offshore geotechnics research group which is focused on solving the technical challenges in offshore wind energy (aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 13). I am actively involved in driving innovation within the geotechnical engineering community through advancements in fundamental understanding of soil behaviour, numerical modelling and experimental testing. My research has had a significant impact on the offshore wind industry, helping to reduce the costs and increase economic viability. I was a key contributor to the UK Carbon Trust Pile Soil Analysis (PISA) project, which developed new design methods for offshore wind foundations. The PISA design model is now the de-facto design approach used by engineers designing offshore wind foundations worldwide. This new approach is estimated to save ~30% of steel weight compared to the previous industry standard approach. The PISA project won the prestigious BGA Fleming Award and was recognised by the Carbon Trust as one of the 10 most high impact projects undertaken in the last 10 years by the Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) program (which estimates its projects have resulted in £34 Billion cost savings for the offshore wind industry by 2030). I am currently collaborating with the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Southampton, Western Australia, Imperial College London, TU Delft. Geotechnical Engineering is historically poorly funded. Prior to my joining TCD, there had been no large grants (>€150k) won in this area in the previous 10 years. By harnessing my expertise in offshore geotechnics and targeting research funding supporting the Renewable Energy transition, I have managed to bring in significant research funding of €1.14 million to TCD in the past 3 years (with total consortium funding >€3 million), funded by SFI, SEAI, IRC and Geological Survey Ireland. In 2021 I joined the SFI ICRAG research centre as a funded Investigator where I was recently awarded funding of €170k. The program for government (2020) has targeted 5GW of offshore wind to be developed by 2030 which will require an investment of ~10 Billion. I have made this area one of the hot topics within the department and I will continue to grow my research group to position Trinity as Irelands leading University supporting Offshore Wind Geotechnics.