Rising Stars Archive
2021 Rising Stars
![If you buy three bags of groceries in the supermarket, imagine coming home and promptly tipping one in the bin. Every day, one-third of the world’s food is lost or thrown away - enough to feed the planet’s estimated 690 million undernourished four times over.](/discovery/t4media/Ajay.PORTRAIT_2-450x280.jpg)
If you buy three bags of groceries in the supermarket, imagine coming home and promptly tipping one in the bin. Every day, one-third of the world’s food is lost or thrown away - enough to feed the planet’s estimated 690 million undernourished four times over.
![They sometimes noisily nest in residential rooftops and swoop to snatch food from pedestrians. As seagulls encroach on urban spaces, conflict with humans is inevitable. But are the birds alone to blame for their aggressive reputation?](/discovery/t4media/AK (1)-450x280.jpg)
They sometimes noisily nest in residential rooftops and swoop to snatch food from pedestrians. As seagulls encroach on urban spaces, conflict with humans is inevitable. But are the birds alone to blame for their aggressive reputation?
![Most of us have some understanding of epilepsy, the neurological disorder characterised by seizures. But it might come as a surprise to learn that in half of cases there is no known cause.](/discovery/t4media/Gary-Brennan.jpg)
Most of us have some understanding of epilepsy, the neurological disorder characterised by seizures. But it might come as a surprise to learn that in half of cases there is no known cause.
![Amanda Fitzgerald is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology. Her research focuses on understanding risk and protective factors of young people\'s mental health](/discovery/t4media/Amanda-for-twitter-450x280.jpg)
Amanda Fitzgerald is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology. Her research focuses on understanding risk and protective factors of young people's mental health
![Unlike fuzzy bumblebees or elegant butterflies, subterranean critters – like earthworms, ants and mites - tend not to rate highly in people’s affections. “If things aren\'t pretty, we don\'t tend to like them which is a pity because it\'s harder to conserve them,”](/discovery/t4media/Tara Dirilgen_BW_ 2020 v2-450x280.jpg)
Unlike fuzzy bumblebees or elegant butterflies, subterranean critters – like earthworms, ants and mites - tend not to rate highly in people’s affections. “If things aren't pretty, we don't tend to like them which is a pity because it's harder to conserve them,”
![For those of us fortunate enough to be educated, a base level of numeracy is something we take for granted. Dr Flavia Santos is still amazed, many years later, to recount the story of a woman in Brazil who once needed Flavia’s help with a most rudimentary maths problem. \n\n](/discovery/t4media/flavinska-450x280.jpg)
For those of us fortunate enough to be educated, a base level of numeracy is something we take for granted. Dr Flavia Santos is still amazed, many years later, to recount the story of a woman in Brazil who once needed Flavia’s help with a most rudimentary maths problem.
![It was a deeply sobering experience that would colour the course of her academic career. On a field trip to India in 2012 with Harvard University’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Orla Kelly came face to face with the impact of climate change on education.](/discovery/t4media/Orla-Kelly-450x280.jpg)
It was a deeply sobering experience that would colour the course of her academic career. On a field trip to India in 2012 with Harvard University’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Orla Kelly came face to face with the impact of climate change on education.
![With his voluminous cape and witchy conical hat, writer James Clarence Mangan cut quite the dash around 1800s Dublin. “He called himself The Man in the Cloak. Apparently he had a shock of white hair and green spectacles as well, so he was really an eccentric character.](/discovery/t4media/Katie-Mishler-profile-450x280.jpg)
With his voluminous cape and witchy conical hat, writer James Clarence Mangan cut quite the dash around 1800s Dublin. “He called himself The Man in the Cloak. Apparently he had a shock of white hair and green spectacles as well, so he was really an eccentric character.
![When the first lockdown happened in March 2020, Dr Aoife de Brún became “one of those early volunteers” in UCD’s Covid-19 Contact Tracing Centre. She and her fellow contact tracers were a crucial point of contact in the unfolding pandemic](/discovery/t4media/ADB 1-450x280.jpg)