All-Ireland Natural Sciences Consortium

About

The All-Ireland Natural Sciences Consortium (AINSC) was formed in 2025, providing a forum for people working in the natural sciences in Ireland, to share awareness of what is happening in the broader sector. Our goal is to create a knowledge network to better understand and support research and education about biology, geology and other aspects of natural science. Through this network, researchers and professionals from Antrim to Kerry can keep up to date with the latest policy news, publications and funding opportunities in the field. We view collections as a fundamental aspect supporting this goal, so we also seek to support the care, use and development of specimens across the island of Ireland.

Mailing List

Interested? Sign up to our mailing list, where the community shares news and arranges meetings.

Our Logo

Designed by Kevin Healy

We are glad to launch the logo for the All-Ireland Natural Sciences Consortium which we hope represents the biodiversity found in the collections, research and teaching of natural sciences on the island of Ireland. When developing the logo we wanted to represent the whole island of Ireland, as representing collections across the entire island is a core aspect of the group. To try and capture this extraordinary range we used a series of hexagon shapes, inspired by the basalt columns of the Giant’s Causeway, with each representing different aspects of the island’s natural history.

The logo includes…

  • The red deer (Cervus elaphus), Ireland’s largest terrestrial mammal;
  • The curlew (Numenius arquata), a bird of particular conservation importance in Ireland;
  • The salmon (Salmo salar), which is both historically and commercially important;
  • The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), to round off the vertebrates;
  • The bootlace worm (Lineus longissimus), the longest animal in Ireland (and the world);
  • The orange ladybird (Halyzia sedecimguttata);
  • A brachiopod from the Dolerorthis genus, which is a common fossil found across the island;
  • The edible Penny Bun mushroom (Boletus eduli);
  • The eightpetal mountain-avens (Dryas octopetala), a flowering plant species found in the Burren;
  • We also included a depiction of the fossil tree fern Archaeopteris, which Kevin must admit is an editor’s pick as this important fossil, representing some of the first terrestrial plants, was first found in the Kiltorcon quarry in his hometown of Ballyhale Kilkenny.

Members

If you work in natural sciences in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland and don’t see your institution or organisation represented here, we’d love to hear from you!