John Cleary

John Cleary is a Lecturer in the Department of Applied Sciences at South East Technological University (SETU) and a Principal Investigator at enviroCORE. He has been at SETU since 2014, serving as Programme Director for the BSc in Analytical Science and coordinator for undergraduate projects. His expertise spans environmental water quality monitoring, microplastics research, and hydrogel applications in sensing and drug delivery.

Dr. Cleary holds a BSc in Industrial Chemistry (1998) and a PhD in Hydrogels for Drug Delivery (2005) from the University of Limerick. He conducted postdoctoral research at Dublin City University’s National Centre for Sensor Research until 2014, focusing on field-deployable sensors for water quality parameters.

Research Interests: His work addresses environmental challenges through low-cost water quality monitoring technologies, microplastic prevalence and interactions, and hydrogel-based innovations. His contributions align with UN Sustainable Development Goals on clean water and sustainable cities.

Teaching: He teaches modules in spectroscopy, analytical instrumentation, pharmaceutical processing, and process analytical technologies across multiple programs, including BSc Analytical Science and Pharmaceutics.

Advising & Grants: Supervisor of five postgraduate researchers and completed three PhD projects. He led the 2019–2021 ‘Citizen Science Approach to Microplastics Sampling’ project. No scientific awards explicitly mentioned.

Labs/Teams: enviroCORE research centre, focusing on environmental science and technology.