Offshore Renewable Energy Research
Maréire provide expert, scientific and evidence-based information
MARÉIRE, the IEN’s “Marine Renewable Energy and the Irish Environment” Project, will advance and lead research, policy and advocacy in relation to marine biodiversity and offshore renewable energy.
We aim to ensure that environmental protection remains at the forefront of decision-making, policy and planning whilst meeting our targets for renewable energy.
The project will run for 3 years and is funded by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE).
We are a small, energetic team with experience spanning marine biology, environmental conservation, research and offshore renewable energy.
Dr Jenny Bortoluzzi
Dr Jenny Bortoluzzi is the MARÉIRE Project Coordinator at the Irish Environmental Network.
Jenny is a marine biologist by training with a PhD from Trinity College Dublin focusing on the ecology and conservation of elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) and has a keen interest in finding meaningful and impactful solutions to our environmental crises which consider both nature and people.
She has worked with international organisations, such as the IUCN Shark Specialist Group and the Environmental Justice Foundation, as well as Irish NGOs, such as the Irish Basking Shark Group that she is a scientific advisor for.
Rochelle Streker
Rochelle Streker is the Marine Spatial Planning Officer with BirdWatch Ireland.
Rochelle has had a diverse career spanning 10 plus years of working in environmental conservation. In recent roles, she has been responsible for coastal seasonal staff and 200 volunteers conducting a range of bird surveys, predator control (including coyotes and fish crows), managing habitats and collaborating with many Govt state and federal organisations, and being co-lead for multiple partnerships including research teams.
She has also completed a master’s in wildlife biology from Clemson University on the reproductive ecology of brown pelicans in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Her work with birds has taken her from Newell’s shearwaters to American oystercatchers to common and roseate terns to black guillemots to glossy ibis and many other sea- and shorebird species. Rochelle also has experience across a variety of large marine ecosystems from the Hawaiian islands to the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Maine. More recently she moved to Ireland and has been part of the Rockabill warden team.
Stephen Comerford
Stephen Comerford is the ORE and Marine Biodiversity Officer at IWDG.
He has been involved with the Group since 2008 recording sightings from the south and west coasts and offshore Ireland. Stephen holds a PhD in marine ecology from GMIT (ATU) and has many years of experience working with industry worldwide mitigating for the effects of underwater noise on whales, dolphins and porpoises. More recently he has worked as a Marine Policy Officer at IWDG and as a marine ecology consultant on offshore wind development in Ireland.
Stephen’s role is to help develop and enhance IWDG policies in relation to Offshore Renewable Energy. He will consult with government agencies, developers, environmental organisations and stakeholder groups to put forward the case for better conservation of cetaceans and their habitats at all stages of the development of our offshore wind resource.