Dr. Triona McGrath researches how the oceans are changing due to human activities, particularly in relation to ocean acidification. Specifically, McGrath monitors levels of carbon dioxide in Irish marine waters to determine the accumulation and movement of carbon in the ocean and subsequent increase in ocean acidity. McGrath and her colleagues published the first rates of ocean acidification for Irish offshore waters and the first baseline dataset of carbon parameters in Irish coastal waters. This is crucial in our understanding of the future health of our oceans along with providing information to determine the impacts of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems.

McGrath is a post-doctorate researcher at the National University of Ireland, Galway, funded by the Marine Institute, Ireland. She has been researching ocean climate change since 2008; her latest research project started in February 2017, and for the next four years she will work with colleagues to further develop ocean acidification research in Ireland through the continuation of an ongoing time series in the Rockall Trough and the determination of seasonal and interannual variability of the carbon system in coastal waters. McGrath is a Fulbright Scholar, receiving a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship in 2013 to visit Prof. Andrew Dickson’s laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego to further develop analytical skills in ocean carbon chemistry. 

McGrath has a Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography and Bachelor of Marine Science from the National University of Ireland, Galway.