DrNiamh Martin

Niamh Martin is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science and a member of UCD Earth Institute and UCD Conway Institute. Her research integrates molecular biology and environmental science with a strong focus on public health, water quality, antimicrobial resistance, and One Health initiatives.

Her PhD, under the supervision of Prof. Wim Meijer, focused on bathing water quality in Irish rivers and coastal waters, concentrating on identifying biological sources of contamination and conducting wastewater surveillance for viral pathogens in the Irish community. She also holds a BA (Mod) in Zoology from Trinity College Dublin and an MSc in Wildlife Conservation and Management from UCD.

Currently, she leads a team of researchers on the National Wastewater Surveillance Programme at UCD. This project employs wastewater-based epidemiology to monitor the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and other viral pathogens—including influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus, polio, and non-polio enteroviruses—across the Irish community. The program is a collaborative effort involving the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, National Virus Reference Laboratory, Health Service Executive, and Uisce Éireann.