Cork scientist spearheads fight to save Oz’s Great Barrier Reef

Kate O’Callaghan, who comes from Ballincollig, Co Cork, together with her Australian husband, Som Meaden, and world-renowned environmentalist Andy Ridley are working together to protect the reef off northeastern Australia.

The 2,300km-long ecosystem is the largest living thing on the planet and visible from outer space. But it is losing its ability to bounce back from disturbances like coral bleaching, crown-of- thorns starfish predation, and cyclones.

Kate is working for an organisation called Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, a Cairns-based, non-profit group spearheaded by Mr Ridley which is working on climate change solutions to preserve the reef.

It’s home to countless species of fish, molluscs and starfish, turtles, dolphins, sharks, and more than 600 types of hard and soft coral.

“The Great Barrier Reef is the barometer for the health of the planet,” said Kate.

So if the reef is affected by climate change then Ireland and other countries will also be. We are the canary in the mine.

Kate recently organised a visit by the Australian Olympic swimming team to the reef to raise awareness of its plight and the ways it is being impacted by issues like climate change and plastic pollution.

She also recently appeared on Australian TV and CNN to launch the Single Use Plastics Ban as part of World Oceans Day.

“The plastic revolution is sweeping the world following David Attenborough’s heartfelt plea to tackle the crisis in Blue Planet II. The global community has responded emphatically from plastic bag bans to plastic-free supermarket aisles. The EU is now also proposing a ban on the 10 most common single-use items,” said Kate.

She helped host 25 members of the Australian Dolphins Swim Team, led by Olympic gold-medalist Mack Horton, on the visit to the reef.

“One million plastic bottles are sold around the world every minute,” said Mr Horton.

Plastic bottles are one of the most common single-use items found on beaches and in waterways around the world. That’s why I’m committing to ban them from my daily life,” he added.

A team of researchers led by scientists at Australia’s University of Queensland found that during the 18-year period between 1992 and 2010, the coral recovery rate of reefs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park declined by an average of 84%.

But the study’s authors also say that effective local management strategies could help restore the reef’s capacity to recover.

A science graduate of Trinity College who has studied environmental policies in Glasgow and Berlin universities, Kate is the daughter of Manus and Betty O’Callaghan. Manus is well known as the organiser of the Cork Person of the Year awards.