The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology has become independent and will now continue as a research institute providing world-class and impartial environmental science.

On December 1 the research centre in Wallingford became independent. They have become autonomous from UK Research and innovation (UKRI) and the natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and launching as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee with charitable status.

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The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) was formed in the year 2000 through a merger of four NERC terrestrial and freshwater research institutes. The UKCEH has a long history of investigating, monitoring and modelling environmental change.

Professor Mark Bailey, executive director of UKCEH, said:“Independence is the next step in our evolution as an organisation. It will allow us to diversify our income and increase the impact of our science, while continuing to deliver the data and insights that researchers, businesses and governments need to create a productive, resilient and healthy environment.”

Now independent, the UKCEH see it as their mission to continue to deliver impartial environmental science, to understand the environment, how it sustains life, and the human impact on it.

Oxford Mail:

NERC Council highlights the importance of sustaining long-term funding to UKCEH through their NERC-funded national capability programmes, they aim to continue to enable the UK research community to stay at the forefront of environmental science globally, and meet national strategic needs, informing government and business decision-making on environmental issues.

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NERC executive chair professor Duncan Wingham, said before the company was made independent: “December 1st is an important milestone for the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology as it becomes an independent body. The new governance structures will make the Centre more agile, with more freedoms and flexibilities to deliver their science and to do so with a greater range of external partners and funders. I look forward to a continued strong and productive relationship between our two organisations.”

A new board of directors will bring a wide range of skills and experience in overseeing the governance of the new organisation. The chair of the board is Lord Cameron of Dillington, who serves as an independent crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and sits on the Environment and Energy Committee.

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Lord Cameron, said: “I am delighted to be joining a world-class research institute at the forefront of environmental science. The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is renowned worldwide for the excellence and relevance of its environmental science, and I am very much looking forward to working with Professor Mark Bailey, the executive team and my fellow Trustee Directors to build on our successes over recent years and help take the organisation forward.”

UKCEH hopes to become more financially resilient with more freedom to work with external partners both in the UK and internationally.