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Natural Environment Research Council appoints an interim Chief Executive

27 June 2011

Dr Steven Wilson takes on the role of Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) this week.

His appointment is for an interim period while a successor is recruited to replace Professor Alan Thorpe, who is taking a new position as Director General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts from 1 July.

Dr Steven Wilson

Professor Thorpe said, "NERC is a dynamic organisation, recognised worldwide for supporting excellent research. I feel very privileged to have played my part in strengthening NERC's focus on delivering its strategy and thereby for it to be a leader in finding solutions to environmental challenges.

"Steven Wilson has been a driving force in developing the NERC strategy over the past six years and I am very pleased that he will be leading the organisation in the interim. I know that he will have the full support of NERC's staff and the research community."

Dr Wilson has held a number of senior posts since joining NERC in 1998, the most recent being Director, Strategy & Partnerships, with responsibility for developing and implementing the NERC Science & Innovation Strategy.

Prior to this, he was NERC Director of Earth Observation and in this period he led the British National Space Centre's Earth Observation activities, represented the UK environmental science community at the European Space Agency (ESA) Council and chaired the ESA Earth Observation Programme Board.

From 1995 to 1998 he worked for the Met Office, where he developed and used a simulator for a future satellite instrument on the Met Office's Hercules research aircraft.

Further information

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Notes

1. NERC is the UK's main agency for funding and managing world-class research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences. It coordinates some of the world's most exciting research projects, tackling major issues such as climate change, environmental influences on human health, the genetic make-up of life on Earth, and much more. NERC receives almost £400m a year from the government's science budget, which it uses to fund independent research and training in universities and its own research centres.

Press release: 17/11