Natural Environment Research Council

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

The council's head office is at Polaris House in Swindon, alongside several others of the seven Research Councils.

NERC supports several research institutes including the British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, National Marine Facilities (part of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton) and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. It also supports a number of collaborative centres of excellence and subject-based designated data centres for the storage and distribution of environmental data.

[edit] The mission of NERC

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.