NERC Awards £7.4 Million in Fellowships to Advance Environmental Science and Foster Emerging Leaders

NERC Awards £7.4 Million in Fellowships to Advance Environmental Science and Foster Emerging Leaders

(IN BRIEF) The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has awarded £7.4 million in fellowships to 11 early career researchers, supporting projects in environmental science areas such as sea level rise, coral reef dynamics, and climate prediction. These prestigious fellowships aim to develop the next generation of environmental leaders by providing five years of funding, fostering leadership skills, and establishing international reputations. The initiative also emphasizes supporting researchers from diverse backgrounds.

(PRESS RELEASE) SWINDON, 14-Aug-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has announced the recipients of the prestigious NERC Independent Research Fellowships, awarding a total of £7.4 million to 11 early career researchers. These fellowships aim to advance critical areas of environmental science, including sea level rise, coral reef dynamics, climate prediction, and ecotoxicity.

The fellowships, funded by NERC, are designed to support the next generation of leaders in environmental science by providing five years of funding. This support will enable the researchers to develop their leadership skills, establish international reputations, and make significant contributions to understanding and addressing climate change and its impacts.

Professor Louise Heathwaite, Executive Chair of NERC, extended her congratulations to the fellowship recipients, emphasizing the importance of their work in advancing the understanding of our changing climate and finding solutions for a sustainable future.

The fellowships also aim to support researchers from diverse backgrounds and circumstances, ensuring a wide range of perspectives in environmental science.

The awarded researchers and their projects include:

• James Keane (University of York): Investigating biological uptake of nitrous oxide in soils.
• Stephen Hicks (University College London): Exploring what controls coupling and seismogenic potential along faults.
• Swaroop Chakraborty (University of Birmingham): Studying the structural and biogeochemical transformation of nano-metal organic frameworks and their impact on ecotoxicity.
• Lewis Jones (University College London): Elucidating diversity dynamics in marine tropical hotspots.
• Chancey MacDonald (Newcastle University): Analyzing coral reef dynamics across longitude, latitude, and depth.
• Evelyn Keaveney (Queen’s University Belfast): Examining the fate of terrestrial permafrost carbon in aquatic systems.
• Milan Klöwer (University of Oxford): Predicting climate feels-like temperatures using online machine learning.
• Anna-Lena Deppenmeier (Imperial College London): Investigating processes behind tropical Pacific variability.
• Elsa Panciroli (National Museums Scotland): Uncovering the origins of viviparity in mammals.
• Beatriz Recinos (University of Edinburgh): Assessing future sea-level rise and freshwater export from Antarctic glaciers and ice caps.
• Charlotte Spencer-Jones (Durham University): Studying the rapid changes in drylands and their effects on the microbial carbon cycle.

The NERC Independent Research Fellowships are a significant step in fostering innovation and leadership in environmental science, ensuring that the next generation of researchers is equipped to tackle the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation.

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SOURCE: UKRI