Prof. Fiona Regan, Director of the Water Institute was invited to present the Mary Mulvihill Award for 2022. Now in its sixth year, this year’s competition invited entries on the theme of ‘Water’. Entrants were encouraged to address the topic in scientific, environmental, imaginative or other terms. Students from ten colleges around Ireland submitted entries.
Samantha Tobias, won the top prize for her entry, an illustrated essay entitled “Vegaøyan: Impact and Management of Sea Level Rise and Flooding on World Heritage Sites”. It is a rich and extraordinarily thorough analysis of the implications of rising sea levels for the Vegaøyan (or Vega) archipelago off the west coast of Norway. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Vegaøyan is a precious cultural landscape and seascape, comprising thousands of islands, islets and reefs. The region has a continuous history of human habitation for over 10,000 years. Its inhabitants combine fishing, farming and the highly distinctive practice of harvesting the down of eider ducks, for which they build special nesting houses.
Huge congratulations to Samantha pictured above at the award ceremony with Prof. Fiona Regan and the judging panel.