Emma Teeling facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Emma Teeling MRIA
Teeling for the Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) in 2020
Born	Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland
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 a famous Irish scientist who studies animals and their genes. She is an expert in bats, especially their DNA and how they are related to each other. Her work helps us understand bat genomes, which is like their complete set of instructions.

Professor Teeling's research also looks at how bats can teach us about ageing in humans. She studies how bats live for a very long time and how this might help us understand human health. She is also a co-founder of the Bat1K project. This project aims to map the genomes of all bat species in the world.

Emma Teeling is a full professor at University College Dublin (UCD). 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 part of the Centre for Irish Bat Research. She is a highly respected scientist in her field. She is also a chosen member of Ireland's national academy, the Royal Irish Academy.

Early Life and School

Emma Teeling grew up in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. Her father was a professor and a business owner. Her mother was also a professor, working in education. Emma has two younger brothers, Jack and Stephen.

She went to Holy Faith Secondary School, Clontarf. As a student, she wrote an article about Moscow. This was for a special newspaper section after a school trip to the USSR. She also played camogie, a type of Irish sport, for her local Dublin team.

Higher Education and Bat Studies

Emma Teeling started her university journey at University College Dublin (UCD). From 1991 to 1995, she earned a degree in Zoology. 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 got a master's degree in Animal Behavior and Welfare. This included working with swift foxes in Canada.

Her love for bats grew when she saw an advertisement for PhD studies about them. From 1997, she studied bats at Queen's University, Belfast and the University of California, Riverside. In 2001, she finished her PhD. Her research focused on understanding bat family trees using their DNA.

Career in Science

After her PhD, Emma Teeling worked as a research fellow in the US. She was at the National Cancer Institute from 2002 to 2004.

In 2005, she came back to Ireland. She became a lecturer at UCD, teaching about evolution and genetics. She quickly became a tenured professor in 2006. That same year, she started the "BatLab" at UCD. In 2008, she also helped create the Centre for Irish Bat Research. She is still a director of this important project. Her BatLab team often does fieldwork in Brittany, France, working with a group that protects nature. Professor Teeling is very passionate about understanding and protecting bat populations and their homes.

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.

Amazing Bat Research

Professor Teeling has received a lot of funding for her research. This money helps her and her team study bats and their genes. In 2006, she received a special award from Science Foundation Ireland. This award provided over 1.2 million euro for her studies on mammal genes.

She also received a grant from the European Research Council for her "Ageless" project. This project looks at how tiny bats, weighing only 7 grams, can live for over 40 years! This is much longer than other animals their size. Bats seem to have special ways to manage their cells, which might help them avoid getting old. Professor Teeling believes that studying wild bats could help us find new ways to slow down ageing in humans.

Teeling also helped start the Bat1K project. This project aims to map the full genetic code (genome) of every living bat species. In 2020, a report from this project was featured on the front cover of Nature magazine. This showed how important her work is.

Awards and Recognition

In 2016, Emma Teeling was chosen as a member of the Royal Irish Academy. This is the highest academic honor in Ireland.

In 2017, she received a special award from France called the Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes académiques. This award, known as "the purple," is one of the oldest civilian honors in France. Her husband also received this award for his work in astrophysics.

In 2020, Professor Teeling was invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She gave a presentation called Bats and the Secret of Everlasting Youth. She also spoke at a genomics school in Siberia, Russia, sharing her knowledge about bats and their long lives.

Sharing Her Knowledge

Professor Teeling has written and co-written many scientific articles and chapters. These works are often used and referenced by other scientists. Some of her important papers include studies on how bats use echolocation (like sonar) and how their genes have changed over time.

She has also shared her research with the public. She gave a TEDx talk about bat genomes, which has been watched over 565,000 times. UCD has also uploaded one of her lectures, "Bats: secrets of extended lifespan," to YouTube. She has been on radio and television shows, explaining her work. She even had a TV crew follow her team as they found bats in old churches in France. After the Bat1K project released its first bat genomes, she was interviewed by the BBC. She talked about how bats' unique 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 senior professor at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Both Emma and Peter grew up in Clontarf, Dublin, but they met when they were students 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' whiskey company, the Teeling Whiskey Company. This company opened the first new whiskey distillery in Dublin in 125 years.