Aisling O'Sullivan

Aisling Dominique O'Sullivan is an Irish–New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Canterbury, specialising in ecological engineering for removal of heavy metals and nutrients from wastewater, in urban and rural environments and as part of mining remediation.

Academic career

O'Sullivan was born and grew up in Ireland. She completed a PhD titled Constructed wetlands for passive biological treatment of mine tailings water at Tara Mines, Ireland at the National University of Ireland. From 2001 to 2003, O'Sullivan undertook postdoctoral research at the Center for Restoration of Ecosystems and Watersheds of at the Gallogly College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. O'Sullivan then joined the faculty of the University of Canterbury, rising to Professor of Ecological Engineering. O'Sullivan is the leader of the Centre for EcoLogical Technical Solution at Canterbury.

O'Sullivan's early research was on removal of heavy metals from contaminated water. Working at former mining sites in both Ireland and Oklahoma, she became aware of the ecological and environmental damage that heavy metals in mine tailings can do. As part of the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge, O'Sullivan led a three-year (beginning in 2021) multidisciplinary research project to develop new technology for treating wastewater. The research team aimed to use 3D printing and additive manufacturing to produce biodegradable wastewater treatment filters for nutrient removal. O'Sullivan has also investigated the use of mussel shells as a low-cost natural biodegradable material to clean up heavy metals in roof and mine run-off.

Selected works