Prof. Rowan has over 20 years of academic experience in supervising postdoctoral researchers and project management in the areas of microbiology, parasitology, toxicology and novel processes that are highly relevant to MOREFISH. Prof Rowan has co-ordinated previous large national (SFI, HRB, EPA, FIRM) and international (EPSRC, FP7 SME) as well as partnering EU Interreg projects. He has supervised 16 PhD students, 8 postdocs and generated over 100 publications (Scopus index 20 with over 1500 citations). Prof. Rowan has demonstrated the efficacy of using pulsed UV light for destroying related water-borne parasites via EPA Strive projects.

He is Director of the Bioscience Research Institute and holds adjunct Professorship to the School of Medicine in NUIG. Prof. Rowan frequently undertakes scholarly duties with the Food Standards Agency Scotland and the European Food Safety Authority, and is an expert evaluator for the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC).