| Natural Environment Research Council | |
| Type: | Council |
| Status: | Council within UK Research and Innovation |
| Headquarters: | Swindon, Wiltshire, England |
| Budget: | £320 million (FY2024/25)[1] |
| Minister1 Name: | Liz Kendall MP |
| Minister1 Pfo: | Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology |
| Minister2 Name: | Patrick Vallance |
| Minister2 Pfo: | Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation |
| Chief1 Name: | Anthony Cleaver |
| Chief1 Position: | Chairman |
| Chief2 Name: | Louise Heathwaite |
| Chief2 Position: | Executive Chair |
| Parent Department: | Department for Science, Innovation and Technology |
| Parent Agency: | UK Research and Innovation |
| Parent Agency Type: | body |
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a council[2] of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, responsible for supporting research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.
NERC began in 1965 when several environmental (mainly geographic) research organisations (including Nature Conservancy which became the Nature Conservancy Council in 1973 and was divided up in 1991) were brought under the one umbrella organisation.[3] When most research councils were re-organised in 1994, it had new responsibilities – Earth observation and science-developed archaeology. Collaboration between research councils increased in 2002 when Research Councils UK was formed.
The council's head office is at Polaris House in Swindon, alongside the other six Research Councils. NERC's research centres provide leadership to the UK environmental science community and play significant and influential roles in international science collaborations.
| Insignia | Organisation |
|---|---|
| National Centre for Atmospheric Science | |
| National Centre for Earth Observation | |
| National Oceanography Centre (1996–2019) | |
| Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (1994–2019) | |
It also supports a number of collaborative centres of excellence and subject-based designated Environmental Data Centres for the storage and distribution of environmental data.
The Natural Environment Research Council delivers independent research, survey, training and knowledge transfer in the environmental sciences, to advance knowledge of planet Earth as a complex, interacting system. The council's work covers the full range of atmospheric, Earth, biological, terrestrial and aquatic sciences, from the deep oceans to the upper atmosphere, and from the geographical poles to the equator.
NERC's mission is to gather and apply knowledge, create understanding and predict the behaviour of the natural environment and its resources, and communicate all aspects of the council's work. The British Meteorological Office is not part of NERC.
The NERC Airborne Research Facility (ARF) collects and processes remotely sensed data for use by the scientific community. Data are collected from one of four Twin Otter research aircraft (or a Dash 7) operated by British Antarctic Survey, processed by a data analysis team at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and archived at the National Earth Observation Data Centre (NEODC). Currently the NERC ARF provides radiometrically corrected hyperspectral data from the AISA Fenix and Owl instruments; ground height information from the Leica ALS50-II; and digital photography.
