John Connolly 

Dr. John Connolly is an Assistant Professor in Physical Geography and leads the Trinity Geospatial Research Group at Trinity College Dublin, where he joined in September 2020. He is a funded investigator with the Climate+ Co-Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Water, contributing to Platform 2.5: Multi-Scale Environmental Assessment of Upland Natural Capital.

Dr. Connolly’s research uses geographic information systems (GIS) and Earth observation to study land use change, landscape carbon dynamics, and habitat assessment. He has published over 50 journal articles, reports, and policy statements, including in leading journals such as Earth-Science Reviews, International Journal of Remote Sensing, and Nature Scientific Reports.

He leads and co-leads several national and international projects, including the EPA-funded iHabiMap project (2019–2024), the ICONEEx project, and the DAFM-funded RePEAT project (2022–2025). He also serves as co-principal investigator on initiatives such as D-TECT (2023–2026), PEATFOR (2024–2027), the Irish Peatland Resilience project (2021–2025), and SmartBog (2019–2024). In 2022, he was a coordinating lead author for Chapter 2 of the United Nations Environment Programme Global Peatland Assessment.

Dr. Connolly collaborates widely with researchers around the world, applying his expertise in GIS and remote sensing to support evidence-based conservation, climate resilience, and environmental management.