Niamh Cahill

Niamh Cahill is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics within the Faculty of Science & Engineering at Maynooth University. Her academic work spans environmental statistics and public health, with a particular focus on developing statistical models to address societal and environmental concerns. She is affiliated with both the Hamilton Institute and ICARUS (the Maynooth University Climate and Environmental Change Research Centre), reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her research.

Dr. Cahill holds a BSc in Chemistry and Statistics from Maynooth University, followed by an MSc and PhD in Statistics from University College Dublin. Prior to joining Maynooth University, she served as a Lecturer/Assistant Professor at University College Dublin (2017-2023) and completed a postdoctoral research associate position at UMASS Amherst (2016-2017).

Her research ethos centers on developing statistical models to address societal and environmental concerns. One major research focus involves creating statistical models to assess and interpret indicators of climate change, particularly sea-level change and sea-level extremes. Her work explores and quantifies the spatial non-uniformity and uncertain magnitude of current and future sea-level rise, which aids coastal risk-management decision makers in developing mitigation and adaptation strategies. Another significant research area involves the statistical analysis of population-level health trends, with particular attention to family-planning indicators at national and sub-national levels, especially in the world's poorest countries. This work assesses progress toward meeting Sustainable Development Goals related to health (Goal 3) and gender equality.

Dr. Cahill employs a Bayesian approach to statistical modeling, which is particularly suitable for developing complex hierarchical models, accounting for uncertainties related to model parameters, incorporating prior knowledge, and sharing information across data populations. Her recent publications reveal a consistent focus on sea-level reconstruction, climate change indicators, and family planning statistics, demonstrating the dual environmental and public health applications of her statistical methodology.

Dr. Cahill has secured significant research funding, including as Principal Investigator for the "Predicting Sea Levels and Sea Level Extremes for Ireland" project (€258,529, 2021-2024) and as Co-PI for several other substantial projects including HydroDare and IHRN. Her research team includes postdoctoral fellows such as Fernando Mayer working on sea-level estimation projects.

Within the university community, Dr. Cahill serves on multiple committees including the Academic Council, Faculty of Science and Engineering EDI Committee, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics PR Committee. She has also held leadership positions such as Outreach Officer for Y-ISA (2021-2022).

Dr. Cahill teaches several courses at Maynooth University including DS152 Introduction to Data Science, ST405 Bayesian Data Analysis, ST201 Data Analysis, ST466 Advanced Statistical Modelling, and DS151 Introduction to Data Science, reflecting her expertise in statistical methodology and data science applications.