Emma Teeling facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Emma Teeling
MRIA
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Teeling for the Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) in 2020
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| Born | |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | Holy Faith Secondary School, Clontarf |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin (BSc), University of Edinburgh (MSc), Queen's University Belfast (with University of California at Riverside) (PhD) |
| Known for | Studies of chiroptera (bats), including genome and longevity, and the possible application to human ageing and certain conditions |
| Spouse(s) | Peter T. Gallagher |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) President of Ireland Award (2006), European Research Council Starting Investigator (2013-2018), Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes académiques |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Zoology, Genetics (Phylogenetics, Genomics) |
| Institutions | University College Dublin (2005-), National Cancer Institute (2002-2005) |
| Thesis | A molecular perspective on chiropteran systematics (2001) |
Emma Teeling is an Irish scientist who studies animals, especially bats. She is an expert in genetics, which is the study of how living things inherit traits. She also studies genomics, which looks at all the genes of an organism. Her work focuses on understanding bat genomes (all their genetic information) and how bats live for a very long time.
Professor Teeling hopes that by studying bats, we can learn more about human ageing and conditions like deafness and blindness. She helped start the Bat1K project. This project aims to map the genes of every type of bat in the world. She also cares about protecting bats and their homes in nature.
Emma Teeling is a full professor at University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland. There, she started two important science centers. One is called the Laboratory of Molecular Evolution and Mammalian Phylogenetics, also known as the "BatLab." The other is the Dublin part of the Centre for Irish Bat Research. She is a respected scientist and a member of the Royal Irish Academy, which is Ireland's national academy for science and learning.
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Early Life and School
Emma Teeling was born in Clontarf, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Her father, John Teeling, is a professor and a business owner. Her mother is also a professor who works in education. Emma grew up with her two younger brothers, Jack and Stephen.
She went to Holy Faith Secondary School, Clontarf. When she was in school, she wrote an article about Moscow for a newspaper after a school trip to the USSR. She also played camogie, a sport similar to hockey, for her local Dublin team.
University Studies
From 1991 to 1995, Emma studied Zoology at University College Dublin (UCD). During this time, she even studied deer in Dublin's Phoenix Park. After UCD, she went to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. There, she earned a master's degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare. This included working with swift foxes in Canada.
Later, she saw an advertisement for PhD studies about bats. She started her PhD in 1997 at Queen's University, Belfast and the University of California, Riverside. In 2001, she finished her PhD. Her research was about understanding bat family trees using their genes.
Career in Science
After her PhD, Dr. Teeling worked as a researcher at the US National Cancer Institute from 2002 to 2004. In 2005, she came back to Ireland. She became a lecturer in Evolution and Genetics at UCD.
At UCD, she started the "BatLab" in 2005. This lab studies how bats have changed over time. In 2008, she also helped create the Centre for Irish Bat Research at UCD. She is still a leader in this project. Her lab often does fieldwork in Brittany, France, working with a group that protects nature. Professor Teeling is very interested in understanding bat groups and their natural homes, and in helping to protect them.
She became an associate professor in 2012 and later a full professor. She is also the Head of Zoology at UCD. Besides her research, she teaches many courses and guides students working on their PhDs.
Important Research and Funding
Over the years, Professor Teeling has received a lot of money to support her research. This funding helps her and her teams study bats. In 2006, she received a special award from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). This award gave her over 1.2 million euro to study the genes of mammals. She also got funding to study small bats and their conservation.
She also received an award from the European Research Council for a project called Ageless (2013-2018). This project looks at how bats, even tiny ones, can live for over 40 years. They might have special ways of keeping their cells healthy. Professor Teeling noted that some bats don't seem to die from old age. She believes studying them could help us find new ways to slow down ageing in humans.
Professor Teeling helped start the Bat1K project. This project aims to map the genes of all living bat species. In 2020, a report from this project, which included her work, was featured on the front cover of Nature magazine. This is a very important science magazine.
Awards and Recognition
In 2016, Emma Teeling was chosen to be a member of the Royal Irish Academy. This is the highest academic honor in Ireland. In 2017, she received an award from France called the Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes académiques. This is a very old award given for scientific work. Her husband also received this award for his work in astrophysics.
In 2020, Professor Teeling attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This is a big meeting where world leaders and experts discuss important issues. She gave a presentation there called Bats and the Secret of Everlasting Youth. She also spoke about bats and how long they live at a science event in Siberia, Russia, in 2020.
Sharing Her Work
Professor Teeling has written and helped write many scientific articles and book chapters. Her work is often used and referenced by other scientists. Some of her important papers include:
- "A molecular phylogeny for bats illuminates biogeography and the fossil record" (2005)
- "Longitudinal comparative transcriptomics reveals unique mechanisms underlying extended healthspan in bats" (2019)
- "The evolution of echolocation in bats" (2006)
- "How and why should we implement genomics into conservation?" (2014)
She has also given a TEDx talk about bat genes, which has been watched over 565,000 times. UCD has also put one of her lectures, 'Bats: secrets of extended lifespan,' on YouTube. She has been interviewed on radio and television. Once, a TV crew even joined her team as they looked for bats in old churches in France. After the Bat1K project released the first six bat genomes, she was interviewed by the BBC. She talked about how bats' special immune systems might help them fight off viruses, including COVID.
Personal Life
Emma Teeling is married to Peter T. Gallagher, who is an astrophysicist. He is a professor at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. They both grew up in Clontarf, Dublin, but met when they were studying science at UCD. They lived in the US for a while during their studies. They moved back to Ireland when Emma got a job offer from UCD. They have two sons. Emma also invested in her brothers' company, the Teeling Whiskey Company. This company opened the first new whiskey distillery in Dublin in 125 years.
