Rowan Byrne
Mott MacDonald
marine plastic projects lead
Rowan Byrne
Rowan Byrne is an Irish marine and freshwater biologist and technical expert and a marine sustainability plastics specialist with Mott MacDonald. A successful marine biologist and Fellow of the Royal society of Biology with over 30 years’ proven environmental experience in marine conservation species and habitats, climate change mitigation and adaptation and sustainability strategies.
As a keen innovator himself, Rowan’s focus is very much on legacy and how we can – and should – all work with a wide range of stakeholders and industry partners/governments to integrate environmental and social considerations into all our activities. Rowan continues to publish papers on solutions to plastic pollution in our waterways and leads on several plastic capture projects across the UK in marine and freshwater riverine and wastewater treatment works environments.
Rowan is constantly collaborating on research projects with key UK & global stakeholders to identify and mitigate plastics in the environment. His work won him the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) Sustainability Leader of the Year Award in 2020 and his management of the installation of two Seabins at Howth Harbour in Dublin in 2019 has received multiple media accolades.
In his spare time, he enjoys drumming, restoring classic cars and antiques and has worked with Johnny Depp on Pirates of the Caribbean in 2006 on both Pirates 2 and 3. Early next year one of Rowan’s photographs, of a Leatherback Sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) hatchling, will be immortalised on a US Postage stamp in support of this endangered species.
