Teagasc has appointed Noel Meehan as Head of its Water Quality Knowledge Transfer Department. The appointment was approved by the Teagasc Authority at its recent meeting.

There has been a rapid expansion of the Teagasc Environment Knowledge Transfer (KT) activities in the last couple of years, so the decision was taken to form two departments, the first is Climate and Biodiversity which will be led by Dr Tom O’Dwyer, and the second Water Quality which will be led by Noel Meehan.

Congratulating Noel, John Spink, Head of the Teagasc Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme said; “I’m delighted to have Noel as part of the management team and look forward to working with him. Noel has a wealth of experience in water quality having led ASSAP (Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme), and previously worked in the Teagasc Agricultural Catchments Programme (ACP). He has also worked in advisory services as an agri environment planner and as a Business and Technology advisor. As Head of the Water Quality KT Department, Noel will lead the Better Farming for Water (BFFW) Campaign. The new Department will bring together all of Teagasc KT activities related to water quality into one Department, including the ASSAP, the advisory part of the Agricultural Catchment Programme (ACP), and nutrient management (NMP on-line), which are key initiatives that the Teagasc Better Farming for Water (BFFW) Campaign will build on.”

Speaking on his appointment, Noel Meehan said; “I am delighted to work with the new Water Quality KT team and lead the implementation of the Better Farming for Water campaign. We have a great opportunity to support farmers to implement water protection measures and move agriculture into an era of sustained water quality improvement.”

John Spink thanked Pat Murphy, former Head of the Teagasc Environment KT Department, who retired after a long career, working in a number of business units in Teagasc.