Hello my name is Rónán and I live in New York City. I am thrilled to be back with EarthEcho International as a Senior Water Challenge Ambassador. As one of the original EarthEcho ambassadors in 2018, I became particularly interested in Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and road salt usage to determine ways that they may be monitored and mitigated as well as urban storm flood challenges and coastal ecosystem restoration.

In 2021, I was selected to join a team of UPENN engineering students to develop a curriculum and teach sustainability topics to Philadelphia middle and high schoolers connecting them to their local watershed. I also became involved with various local studies assessing the health of my waterways including enterococcus monitoring with the Bronx River Alliance, whale observation in the NY/NJ Bight as an eco-cruise naturalist for the American Littoral Society on Seastreak Ferry as well as performing seasonal glass eel monitoring and collecting samples for eDNA analysis in the Hudson River with the NYSDEC and Sarah Lawrence College.

I have lobbied with Beyond Plastics on important policy and have also focused on raising awareness on impactful changes that we can make to limit significant ocean microplastic pollution through incentives with novel product designs such as the GUPPYFRIEND bag which capture microfibres, stopping them from entering our waterways from our laundry. I love exploring beautiful places such as the Adirondack Mountains, the beaches of Long Island, Acadia and Fundy National Park.

My many interests include music, photography, wooden boatbuilding, sailing, paddle boarding, rowing, kayaking, hiking, biking and bird watching. At university, I plan to study engineering and work on ways to reduce pollution and bring harmony and balance to Nature.