UCD student wins inaugural science writing award

UCD student Irene Fogarty has won the inaugural Mary Mulvihill Memorial Award which honours the role of women in scientific research.

An MSc student in world heritage conservation, Ms Fogarty was presented with the €2,000 science journalism prize by Prof Jane Grimson of Women in Technology and Science at an event in the National Library of Ireland.

The topic for this year’s competition was women’s contribution to science and technology. Ms Fogarty’s article examined how indigenous women were making an impact on scientific research into climate change mitigation.

The competition for third-level students was set up by the family and friends of Ms Mulvihill to honour the late journalist's work in science reporting, communication and heritage. She was a regular contributor to The Irish Times.

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Anne Mulvihill, a sister of Mary, said she was delighted with the response to the competition, which aims to reflect the “curiosity and creativity that was inherent” in Mary’s work.

Commenting on the winning entry she said: “It was well written and presented, clear and informative; it shared the stories of the contribution to science made by groups of indigenous women. Mary would have enjoyed her piece.”

Ms Fogarty, who also works as an audience researcher with The Irish Times, said in memory of Mary Mulvihill she would be donating half of her prize money to the UN Fund for Gender Equality, which supports indigenous women.

Runners-up in this year’s competition were Adeleh Mohammadi, an Iranian-born PhD student in the department of civil engineering at NUI Galway, and Anne Burke, who is studying for an MSc in science communication at Dublin City University.