Frank Oconnell

Background

About Frank Oconnell

I am a Senior Hydraulic Modeller and Office Lead based in the JBA Consulting Cork office. I joined JBA Consulting in 2012, with my primary area of expertise lying in hydraulic modelling with a focus on flood risk and river restoration work. I mainly work with 1D and 2D modelling software packages and have over 12 years’ professional experience using Flood Modeller, TUFLOW, HEC-RAS, and JFLOW for the purposes of river restoration scenario modelling and flood risk mapping. I also have significant skills in GIS, being proficient in ArcGIS, QGIS and MapInfo. In addition to this I have substantial experience managing projects of various sizes for a range of different clients in the public, private, and third sectors. I am also involved in the development and provision of physical models for clients for the purposes of stakeholder and public engagement. Prior to joining JBA, I worked as a Geoscience Tutor for the Irish Centre for Talented Youth, which entailed teaching gifted children between the ages of 6- and 12-years old modules such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, and natural disasters. In terms of academic studies, I completed a BSc in Earth Science at University College Cork in 2010, and an MSc in Geological and Environmental Hazards at the University of Portsmouth in 2011. My MSc thesis involved the modelling of surface water flood hazard to the Southsea area of Portsmouth based on the September floods. I also completed a PgCert in Flood and Coastal Risk Management at Lancaster University in 2023.