1. Environmental Research and Knowledge Exchange Dr Andrew Bowen

2. What is the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)? What do we do? – Summary of programmes – Specific examples NERC Research Centres Research Case Studies – Measuring toxicity in water – Managing peatland – Managing shallow lakes NERC Knowledge Exchange (KE) – KE mechanisms – Water KE Programme Summary

3. The largest funder of environmental research in the UK The main UK agency for funding, managing research, training and knowledge exchange in environmental sciences We use our budget of ~£400 million to fund research in Universities and our own Research Centres: – Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – British Antarctic Survey – British Geological Survey – National Oceanographic Centre We also work with many national and international partners to deliver research What is NERC?

4. Fund research: – Research grants and contracts – Research Centres Fund research studentships – PhD and Masters students Fund and carry out Knowledge Exchange – Collaborative research funding – Knowledge Exchange Fellowships – Knowledge Transfer Partnerships – Knowledge Exchange Programmes What do we do?

5. Specific investments Virtual Observatory£1.7m Changing Water Cycle£10.1m Macronutrients£9.5m Flood Risk and Extreme Events£7.4m Network of Sensors£5m LOCAR (completed)£10m Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability£13m Valuation of Biodiversity and Natural Resources£500k

6. Our changing climate and society is radically affecting the water cycle in some areas of the world The CWC programme aims to: 1.Develop a quantitative understanding of changes taking place in the global water cycle 2.Improve predictions of water movement around the water cycle on a decadal scale 3.To understand how local and regional scale hydrological and biogeochemical processes are responding to the changes in climate and land use 4.To understand the consequences of the changing water cycle for water-related hazards and to improve mitigation of these hazards Changing Water Cycle

7. Human activities have enhanced average phosphorus levels by 400% and nitrogen levels by 100% Nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus are pivotal in sustaining global geochemical cycle, protecting human health and ensuring healthy ecosystems The programme aims to: 1.Evaluate the nature and scale of macronutrient exchange between terrestrial, freshwater and atmospheric systems 2.Investigate the role of macronutrients on ecosystem functions (i.e. decomposition and productivity) 3.Determine implications of nutrient enrichment on other non-nutrient contaminants and their effects on human health and biodiversity Macronutrients

8. The FREE programme is involved in research to predict floods minutes to weeks to seasons to decades ahead Is conducting research into the causes and propagation of floods to help forecast and quantify flood risk, and inform society about the likely effects of climate change Example projects 1.“Modelling groundwater flood risk in the Chalk aquifer from future extreme rainfall events” 2.Exploitation of new data sources, data assimilation and ensemble techniques for storm and flood forecasting More information at: www.free-uk.orgwww.free-uk.org Flood Risk From Extreme Events

9. The programme investigated how water enters, is stored within and discharged from three rivers in groundwater- dominated catchments Looked at the movement of sediments and chemicals Example: – Tracked the movement of rainwater in the layers of soil and rock – Because of this scientists are now able to predict the movement of water into the water table below – They also found that it carried a cocktail of nutrients, particularly in areas contaminated by agricultural chemicals More information at: catchments.nerc.ac.ukcatchments.nerc.ac.uk Lowland Catchment Research

10. The UK spends at least £50 million per year on environmental monitoring 1 But much of it is uncoordinated and fragmented 1 The Virtual Observatory is a partnership between NERC, EA, Defra and WAG Aims to create an integrated community to address research questions on water-soil systems at differing locations Take advantage of the latest computing technology to create a cyber-infrastructure network – Allows exploitation of both traditional field measurements and near real-time data 1.ERFF Report 02 – Strategic Analysis of UK Environmental Monitoring Activity 2007 Virtual Observatory

11. NERC Research Centres

12. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is the UK's Centre of Excellence for integrated research in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and their interaction with the atmosphere It is entirely or partly responsible for several long-term monitoring projects, including: – Countryside Survey – Loch Leven – Biological Records Centre – Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme – Environmental Change Network – Carbon Catchment Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

13. The British Geological Survey (BGS) is the nation's principal supplier of objective, impartial and up-to-date geological expertise and information for decision making for governmental, commercial and individual users Involved in a wide variety of geological mapping, research and consultancy across the globe Main team involved in catchment science and monitoring is the Groundwater Science Team – Groundwater mapping – Continuation of LOCAR work – Groundwater ecology – Groundwater quality (collaboration with WaterAid) British Geological Survey

14. Research – Case Studies

15. Grant to Prof Andrew Nelson (University of Leeds) Funded part of the group’s work on synthetic cell membranes To detect toxins a membrane ‘mimic’ is assembled on a chip with a miniature electrode Any toxins that pass through the membrane create a signal, providing an instant alert It has the potential to detect all pollutants in water and is of particular interest because of its ability to detect nanoparticles The technology has been licensed to Modern Water Nano-toxin sensor

16. Grant to Dr Karen Andersen (University of Exeter) Blanket mire and lowland mire are ‘priority habitats’ within the Habitats Directive of the EU Monitoring using standard field measurement techniques is extremely time consuming and costly The team looked specifically at Wedholme Flow and combined LiDAR with satellite data They used LiDAR to identify peatland surface structures and the satellite data to accurately determine the location of vegetation and water The resulting data made it much easier to spot where a bog was growing and where it needed further management Remote monitoring of peat bogs

17. CEH have been conducting detailed water quality studies on Loch Leven since 1968 The Loch had regular problems with algal blooms, with a particularly serious one in 1992 This bloom was estimated to have cost the local economy over £1m in a single year In 1985 CEH carried out a detailed study to identify the cause of pollution (point sources of phosphorus pollution) A management plan was enacted (at a cost of £4 million), based on the long-term CEH monitoring This reduced the phosphorus released into the lake by 60% over the next 10 – 15 years Loch Leven

18. NERC Knowledge Exchange

19. Application – Applying current research to meet a need or challenge Adaption – Reformatting past research outputs through further short- term research Creation – Creating new research where no current work is applicable Connection – Ensuring communication between different initiatives What is Knowledge Exchange?

20. Science Programme KE activities KE Fellowships KE Projects CASE Studentships KTPs and next year KE Programmes KE Mechanisms

21. Knowledge Exchange Programmes 1.Water Security 2.Marine Renewable Energy 3.Food and Agriculture 4.Resource Management 5.Financial Services

22. Start in April 2010 Have a budget of £500K per year – No set activities, flexible Will engage with, and act as a link to: – NERC Science Programmes – NERC KE Fellows – Businesses – LWEC A contact point for Water Security or Marine Renewables information throughout NERC KE Programmes

23. 1.Integrated Catchment Management 2.Extreme Hydro-Meteorological Events 3.Decision Making for Water Security 4.Coordination of Water Data 5.Waste Water Treatment and Reuse Priorities

24. NERC carries out research and education through a huge variety of activities We are committed to ensuring that the research outputs and knowledge that we generate are used as widely as possible A number of mechanisms have been adopted to support this – KE in Science Programmes, KE Fellowships and Collaborative Research Next year two new KE Programmes will be introduced Summary

25. Dr Andrew Bowen NERC Knowledge and Innovation Manager Commercialisation and Innovation Team e-mail:andrew.bowen@nerc.ac.ukandrew.bowen@nerc.ac.uk phone:01491 692673 mobile:07717 714693 Contact Information