Dr. Devoy's research interests can be broken down into the following six areas:
1. Studies of the coastal zone, concerned with the development and functioning of the coastal zone;
coastal process operations; the role and pattern of sea-level changes upon coasts; applications of
historical - landscape change approaches (archival/ documentary sources). at a local and global scale.
2. Marine science- shelf/ slope studies of the European margins; particularly as these relate to coastal
functioning, through sediment transport/ exchanges, water property changes & mass transfers.
3. The role of people in coastal environments & their impacts upon coasts - past to present. The
development of coastal management tools, practise and policy. The role of IT & GIS as technologies in
this & other areas of environmental management.
4. Arising from my interest with the coastal zone, my research is also concerned with a range of
palaeoenvironmental studies concerned with techniques of examining environmental changes, e.g.
diatom and pollen studies, sediment and stratigraphic studies. The focus here is mainly upon marine
interglacial patterns.
5. Vegetational and environmental history - local to regional scales, particularly within Ireland & Britain.
Plant & animal movements: landbridges (biogeography/ palaeoecology).
6. Quaternary science and the mechanisms of landscape changes.
Within these research contexts, I am also keen to develop a wider community and commercial brief in the
areas of coastal resources and coastal functioning, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, linked in
particular to Catchment Studies. I'm also interested in developing Marine - offshore studies , IT & GIS
(particularly as they apply to the above) as well as environmental training for the private and public sector.
Research Activity and Publications
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Devoy, R. J. N., 1972, Evidence for Flandrian sea-level changes at Crossens-Banks, Lancashire.
Journal of the Durham Geographical Society, 14, 76-85.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1977, Flandrian sea-level changes in the Thames estuary and the implications
for land subsidence in England and Wales. Nature, 270 (5639), 712-715.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1979, Flandrian sea-level changes and the vegetational history of the lower
Thames estuary.(Research Monograph), Philosophical Transactions Royal Society, London, B.,
285 (1010), 355-407.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1980, Postglacial environmental changes and Man in the Thames estuary: a
synopsis. In, F. H. Thompson (ed.), Archaeology and Coastal Change, pp. 134-149. London:
Society of Antiquaries, Special Publication New Series No. 1.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1982, Analysis of the geological evidence for Holocene sea-level movements in
southeast England. Proceedings Geologists Association, 93, 65-90.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1983, Late Quaternary shorelines in Ireland: an assessment of their implications
for isostatic land movement and relative sea-level changes. In, D. E. Smith and A. Dawson (eds),
Shorelines and Isostasy, pp.227-254. Institute of British Geographers Special Publication No. 16.
Academic Press, London.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1983, Interglacial deposits in Cork Harbour. Irish Quaternary Association
Newsletter, 6, 14-15.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1984, Quaternary environments in the area of Cork city. Irish Quaternary
Association Newsletter, 7, 1-18.
West, R. G., Devoy, R. J. N., Funnell, B. M. and Robinson, J. E., 1984, Pleistocene deposits at
Earnley, Bracklesham Bay, Sussex. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society, London, B., 306,
137-157.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1985, The problem of a late Quaternary landbridge between Britain and Ireland.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 4 (1), 43-58.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1985, Holocene sea-level changes and coastal processes on the south coast of
Ireland: corals and the problems of sea-level methodology in temperate waters. Proceedings of
the Fifth International Coral Reef Congress, Tahiti, Vol.3, 173-178.
Sleeman, P., Devoy, R. J. N. and Woodman, P. (eds), 1986, Proceedings of the Postglacial
colonization conference, Cork 1983. Irish Biogeographical Society, Occasional Publication, 1, 188.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1986, Possible landbridges between Ireland and Britain: a geological appraisal.
Irish Biogeographical Society, Occasional Publication, 1, 15-26.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1986, Site 13, Dun an Oir: geology. In, W. P. Warren (ed.), Corca Dhuibhe, IQUA
Field Guide Number 9., pp. 48-53. Dublin: Irish Quaternary Association.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1986, Quaternary Newsletter, 50, 13-15 [Note - see Abstracts/Reviews].
Carter, R. W. G. and Devoy, R. J. N., (eds), 1987, The Hydrodynamic and Sedimentary
Consequences of Sea-level Change. Pergamon Press, Oxford. [Special Issue, Progress in
Oceanography, 18 (1-4).], 350pp.
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Devoy, R. J. N., 1987, Sea-level applications and management. Progress in Oceanography, 18,
273-286.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1987, Sea Surface Studies: A Global View. Croom Helm - Chapman Hall,
London, 649pp.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1987, The estuary of the Western Yar, Isle of Wight: sea-level changes in the
Solent region. In, K. E. Barber (ed.), Wessex and the Isle of Wight, QRA Field Guide, pp.115-122.
Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1989, The geological and changing physical environment of the Irish Sea Basin.
In, J. Sweeney (ed.), The Irish Sea: A Resource at Risk, pp.5-17. Geographical Society of
Ireland, Special Publication No, 3, Dublin.
Carter, R. W. G., Devoy, R. J. N. and Shaw, J., 1989, Holocene sea-levels in Ireland. Journal of
Quaternary Science, 4(1), 7-24.
Devoy, R. J. N. (ed.), 1989, Causes and Indicators of Quaternary Climate Change. Symposium
meeting of the Irish Quaternary Association, Dublin, 2 December, 1988, pp.5-9. Irish Quaternary
Association, Dublin.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1990, Sea-level changes and Ireland: past impacts and future prospects.
Technology Ireland, 22(5), 24-30.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1990, Controls on coastal and sea-level changes and the application of
archaeological-historical records to understanding recent patterns of sea-level movement. In, S.
McGrail (ed.), Maritime Celts, Frisians and Saxons, pp.17-26. Council for Britsh Archaeology,
Research Report No 71, London.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1991, The study of inferred patterns of Holocene sea-level change from Atlantic
and other European coastal margins as a means of testing models of earth crustal behaviour. In,
R. Sabadini, K. Lambeck and E. Boschi (eds), Glacial Isostasy, Sea-level and Mantle Rheology,
pp.213-235. NATO ASI Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Vol.334. Kluwer
Academic Publishers, London.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1991, Sea-level changes in Ireland: past impacts and future prospects. In, G. K.
Kiely, E. J. McKeogh and J. P. J. O'Kane (eds), Proceedings of the First Irish Environmental
Engineering Conference, pp.135-150. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UCC,
Cork.
Scourse, J. D., Allen, J., Austin, W., Devoy, R. J. N., Coxon, P. and Sejrup, H. P., 1992, New
evidence of the age and significance of the Gortian temperate stage: a preliminary report on the
Cork Harbour site. Proceedings Royal Irish Academy, 92B (2), 21-43.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1992, Questions of coastal protection and the human response to sea-level rise
in Ireland and Britain. Irish Geography, 25(1), 1-22.
Devoy, R. J. N. and O'Mahony, A. (eds), 1992, Coastal Management and Engineering: A
Workshop. Proceedings of the First Irish Coastal Management and Engineering Workshop.
Resource and Environmental Management (REMU) Occasional Publication No2, University
College Cork, pp.1-98 +Figs & Appendices.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1992, Climate, sea-level change: the nature of the management problem,
present and future. In, R. J. N. Devoy and A. O'Mahony (eds), Coastal Management and
Engineering: A Workshop, pp.16-28. REMU Occasional Publication No2, University College Cork.
Sinnott, A. M. and Devoy, R. J. N., 1992, The geomorphology of Ireland's coastline: patterns,
processes and future prospects. Hommes et Terres du Nord, Revue de l'Institut de Geographie
de Lille, 1992-3, 145-153.
Bartlett, D., Devoy, R. J. N. and Scalise, A., 1993, Conceptual and methodological issues in
creating a coastal zone GIS application. In, The Impact of Humans' Activities on the Coastal
Region. Proceedings of 3rd International Conference, Review of the Sea, 6-8 March 1992,
Livorno, Italy.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1993, Climate and sea-level change: questions of coastal protection and human
responses to changes in coastal position. In, Irish Planning Institute, Planning for Coastal Areas
and Inland Waterways, pp.13-21. The Irish Planning Institute Annual Conference, Blarney 22-23
April, 1993. Dublin.
Carter, R. W. G., McKenna, J., Orford, J. D. and Devoy, R. J. N., 1993, The Irish sea coast of
Ireland: a brief review of coastal processes, erosion and management. In, Irish Sea Forum,
pp.35-45, Liverpool University Press.
Devoy, R. J. N. and Sinnott, A., 1993, Lateglacial environments in County Cork: patterns and
processes of change. In, P. Coxon (ed.), Glacial Events, pp.15-18. Irish Quaternary Association
Annual Symposium, Dublin, 31pp.
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Devoy, R. J. N., 1994, Climate change and coastal management. In, J. Feehan (ed.), Climate
Variation and Change in Ireland, pp.100-104. Environmental Institute, University College Dublin.
Dublin.
Devoy, R. J. N., Dodson, J. and Thom, B. G., 1994, Holocene environments in the Hawkesbury
valley, New South Wales: a comparison of terrestrial and marine records. Quaternary Science
Reviews, 13, 241-256.
Delaney, C. and Devoy, R. J. N., 1995, Evidence from sites in western Ireland of late Holocene
changes in coastal environments. Marine Geology, 124, 273-287.
Devoy, R. J. N., 1995, Deglaciation, Earth crustal behaviour and sea-level changes in the
determination of insularity: a perspective from Ireland. In, R. C. Preece (ed.), Island Britain: A
Quaternary Perspective. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 96, 181-208.
McCall, S. and Devoy, R. J. N., 1995, Applications of Geographic Information systems to coastal
management approaches in Ireland. In, M. G. Healy and P. J. Doody (eds), Directions in
European Coastal Management, pp.235-242. European Union of Coastal Conservation, Leiden.
McCall, S. Devoy, R. J. N., Bartlett, D. and Roche, C., 1995, The application of dynamic
segmentation in the development of coastal Geographic Information System. In, R. Furness (ed.),
Proceedings of Coast GIS '95: International Symposium on GIS and Computer Mapping for
Coastal Zone Management, pp.303-312. International Geographical Union, Canberra.
Shaw, J., Devoy, R. J. N., Forbes, D. L., Orford, J., Beaver, D. E. and Wile, B.