Denis O'Carroll

Professor O’Carroll is the Deputy Head of School (Research) at the UNSW School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a former Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2015-2019). He is actively working to develop destructive PFAS treatment technologies, as well as investigating the factors that control the fate of emerging contaminants in the environment. His impactful research and service to the broad community has been recognized with the 2025 Engineers Australia Environmental Engineering Achievement Award. His research is routinely used as the basis for policy decisions including by the WHO, UK Parliament, US Geological Survey and the Canadian Recreational Water Quality Guidelines. He regularly engages with the media to provide constructive, contextualized commentary on health/ecosystem impacts of contaminants. He was invited to give evidence to the Australia Senate Select Committee on PFAS and NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into PFAS contamination. His work with the media and elected officials has provided them with a better understanding of PFAS in the environmental, and importantly the range of drinking water treatment systems that can remove PFAS from water, as evidenced in Senate and NSW Parliament final reports.

He completed his BASc at the University of Ottawa, his MS at Clarkson University and his PhD at the University of Michigan. Upon completion of his PhD Denis completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan and was awarded a NSERC postdoctoral award to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto.

He is an Associate Editor for Water Resources Research.

https://www.unsw.edu.au/engineering/our-people/denis-ocarroll
https://www.wrl.unsw.edu.au/staff/denis-ocarroll