NERC - NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL

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The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.

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 north and south 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.

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. 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.

BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY

According to their website, each year NERC invests around £38 million in the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to deliver and enable world-leading interdisciplinary research in the polar regions. The scale of polar science is immense; from insects and microbes studied under the microscope, to the continent-sized ice sheet best appreciated from satellite imagery.

BAS’s skilled science and support staff based in Cambridge, Antarctica and the Arctic, work together to deliver research that uses the polar regions to advance our understanding of Earth as a sustainable planet. Through its extensive logistic capability and know-how, BAS facilitates access for the British and international science community to the UK polar research operation. Numerous national and international collaborations, combined with excellent infrastructure, help sustain a world-leading position for the UK in Antarctic affairs.

BAS employs over 400 staff. Facilities to support scientific and operational activities include:

- laboratories and offices in Cambridge

- two year-round Antarctic research stations (Rothera and Halley) and the summer-only Signy

- two sub-antarctic stations on South Georgia

- the NERC Arctic research facility at Ny-Ålesund.

- A research ship (RRS Sir David Attenborough) and a fleet of five aircraft provide logistic support and access to the polar regions, as well as supporting research missions elsewhere.

CHIEF EXECUTIVES

Sir Graham Sutton (1965–1970)
Professor James William Longman Beament (succeeding V. C. Wynne-Edwards FRS; 1978–1981)
Professor John Krebs, Baron Krebs (1994–1999)
Sir John Lawton (1999–2005)
Professor Alan Thorpe (2005–2011)
Dr Steven Wilson (Acting; 2011–2012)
Professor Duncan Wingham (2012–2024)
Professor Louise Heathwaite (March 2024–Present)

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Polaris House,
North Star Avenue,
Swindon,
SN2 1EU

https://www.ukri.org/councils/nerc/

https://www.ukri.org/councils/nerc/

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