Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
John Cleary completed his BSc (Industrial Chemistry) and PhD (Hydrogels for Drug Delivery Applications) at the University of Limerick. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher and research fellow at Dublin City University where he had a primary focus on the development of field-deployable sensors and analysers for measuring water quality parameters including nutrients, metals, and pH.
Dr. Cleary has been a Lecturer in Chemical and Analytical Science at SETU since 2014, teaching primarily in the area of spectroscopy and analytical instrumentation, and he is currently Programme Director for the BSc. in Analytical Science. He is the coordinator for undergraduate projects at Level 7 (BSc Analytical Science) and Level 8 (BSc Hons Pharmaceutics and Drug Formulation).
He is a principal investigator at the enviroCORE research centre, and a supervisor of undergraduate and postgraduate research projects. He has supervised three PhD projects to completion and is currently supervisor to five postgraduate researchers. Current research interests include environmental water quality monitoring, microplastics and their environmental interactions, and applications of hydrogels in sensing and drug delivery.
Teaching
Dr. Cleary teaches on a number of programmes including BSc Hons in Pharmaceutics and Drug Formulation, BSc Hons in Biosciences with Biopharmaceuticals, BSc Analytical Science, and Higher Certificate in Applied Chemistry. Modules currently taught include Instrumentation, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical Processing and Process Analytical Technologies, and Spectroscopy for Biosciences. He is a supervisor and coordinator for undergraduate projects at Level 7 (BSc Analytical Science) and Level 8 (BSc Hons Pharmaceutics and Drug Formulation).
Research Interests
Environmental water quality monitoring, with an emphasis on field deployable and low cost technologies for assessing the quality of environmental waters and wastewaters, with respect to parameters including nutrients and metals.
Microplastics and their environmental interactions, including assessment of the prevalence of microplastics in Irish freshwater, and investigations of interactions between microplastics and organic pollutants, potential pathogens, and biological indicators.
Applications of hydrogels in sensing and drug delivery, with focus on the applications of chitosan-based hydrogels.
Education/Academic qualification
PhD "Characterisation of a thermoreversible hydrogel for the controlled release of pharmaceutically active compounds", University of Limerick
Jan 2000 → Sept 2005
Bachelors Degree, BSc Industrial Chemsitry, University of Limerick
Oct 1994 → Sept 1998
External positions
Postdoctoral researcher / Research fellow, National Centre for Sensor Research, Dublin City University
Nov 2005 → Aug 2014
Researcher, Electrochemistry Research Group, University of Limerick
May 2003 → Apr 2005
Laboratory Technician (Process Development), Eli Lilly SA., Co. Cork, Ireland
Feb 1997 → Aug 1997
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation -
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
Projects
- 1 Finished
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A Citizen Science Approach to Microplastics Sampling
Cleary, J. (Principal Investigator), McCrea, N. (Team Member) & Cunha Neves, A. (Team Member)
01/09/2019 → 31/08/2021
Project: National
Profiles
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Influence of Runoff Generation Mechanisms on Dissolved and Particulate Phosphorus Loss From Grassland Soil
Roche, P., Harty, M., Cleary, J., Browett, S., Scannell, S., Rezaee, M., O'Sullivan, J. & Vero, S., 01 Apr 2026, In: Soil Use and Management. 42, 2, e70223.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Nutritional Profile of Meat and the Biological, Environmental, and Processing Factors Affecting its Composition: A Review
Skoumpa, S., Neves, A. C., Cleary, J. & Phelan, D., 20 Feb 2026, In: Journal of Food Chemistry & Nanotechnology. 12, 1, p. 17-32 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE IRISH AND GREEK MEAT CONSUMPTION CHOICES: A SURVEY BETWEEN THIRD LEVEL INSTITUTIONS
Skoumpa, S., Neves, A. C., Carrol, R., Cleary, J. & Phelan, D., 17 Jul 2024, In: World Journal of Engineering Research and Technology. 10, 8, p. 1 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
File2 Downloads (Pure) -
Occurrence of Microplastics in the Sediments of an Irish River and Their Effects on Nematode Survival and Biodiversity
Murphy, L., Germaine, K., Cleary, J. & Kakouli-Duarte, T., Dec 2024, In: Applied Biosciences. 3, 4, p. 532-558 27 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus) -
Assessment of microplastics in Irish river sediment
Murphy, L., Germaine, K., Kakouli-Duarte, T. & Cleary, J., Jul 2022, In: Heliyon. 8, 7, e09853.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access34 Citations (Scopus)
Datasets
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Accession number PRJNA554450
Germaine, K. (Supervisor), Murphy, L. (Creator) & Cleary, J. (Supervisor), NCBI, 2019
Dataset