WSKEP news

Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), in partnership with NERC, seeks to fund a community-led network to facilitate high-quality research relevant to the sustainable intensification (SI) of agriculture, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary approaches.

The purpose of the network is to build a cohesive interdisciplinary community by bringing together diverse expertise and capabilities. It is intended to stimulate the identification of new research questions relevant to SI, and to facilitate high-quality research to address them, by developing underpinning research capacity at the interfaces between disciplines in the biological and environmental (and social) sciences. It should take account of other related activities, particularly relevant aspects of a number of other existing networks and, where appropriate, form links with them.

For the purpose of this network, the aim of SI is defined as the combination of enhanced yields with more efficient use of resources and better environmental (and social and economic) outcomes, while balancing production with long-term maintenance of the natural capital on which it and other ecosystem services depend (not just 'growing more with less').

Funding of up to £80k per annum is available for up to three years. For a community network of this kind, we would not expect to receive more than one application.

Closing date for proposal: 16:00 on 12 November 2015. To find out more information on the programme and details on how to apply, please visit the BBSRC website.

The Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) of the Committee on Climate Change has been asked by the Government to lead the next UK Climate Change Risk Assessment. An Evidence Report will be published in July 2016, before the final Government report is presented to Parliament in 2017. The ASC commissioned four research projects to inform the assessment.

This research project considers projections of future flood risk for the UK. It finds that significant additional investment and adaptation action will be needed to counter the increase in UK flood risk projected under a 2°C rise in global mean temperatures. It also finds that even the most ambitious adaptation scenarios will not be able to avoid the large increase in UK flood risk implied by a 4°C rise in global temperatures. Long stretches of current coastal flood defence structures in England will become highly vulnerable to failure as sea levels rise, making it increasingly more difficult and costly to manage the risk of widespread coastal inundation.

For further information see here.

Summary

The outlook for October is for normal to below normal river flows and groundwater levels across most of the country, but with normal to above normal flows and levels in southern England. This picture reflects rainfall patterns over recent months; the outlook in southern areas is a legacy of the wet August, whereas the increased likelihood of below normal flows elsewhere reflects the very dry September, which was notably dry in the north-west. The three month outlook suggests a similar contrast between southern England and areas further north, but with a greater prevalence of normal flows and groundwater levels in the latter. At this transitional time of year, uncertainty is high for the three month outlook, as late autumn rainfall will be highly influential.

The three-month rainfall forecast suggests wetter than normal conditions are more likely over this timeframe.

For more information see here.

September was a dry and cool month; it was the coldest September since 1993 in the Central England Temperature series, and despite some unsettled spells there were periods of fine sunny weather. The UK registered just over half of the long-term average rainfall for September. All regions of the UK were drier than average, many substantially so, with the exception of Southern England. Scotland was particularly dry; in a series from 1910 only five Septembers have been drier. Most catchments in northern Britain registered normal to below normal flows, with notably low flows for the time of year in much of western Scotland and northern England. Further south, flows in many catchments remained above normal.

Below average rainfall meant that soil moisture deficits generally did not decline substantially in September. This allowed the continuation of seasonal recessions in most boreholes and groundwater levels generally remained in the normal range or just below. Stocks fell in the majority of index reservoirs but generally were above average for the time of year, notably so in some impoundments in the west of the UK. The onset of groundwater recharge will be sensitive to late autumn rainfall, but overall reservoir stocks for England and Wales remain above average and as such the water resources situation remains healthy entering the late autumn, a time when aquifer recharge typically commences. 

For further information see here.

The UK Water Partnership has announced that Richard Benyon MP will take up the role of Chairman on 10 Oct 2015. The appointment marks another milestone for the organisation as it seeks to develop new opportunities for the UK water sector in a £500bn global market.

Outgoing Chairman, Lord Chris Smith, commented that the Newbury MP would be well placed to take on the role, having previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2010-2013.

For further information see here.

NERC is inviting the environmental science community to submit new ideas for strategic research. NERC is seeking ideas for research challenges that should be priorities for strategic research investment through highlight topics. NERC would welcome ideas from both researchers and those who use environmental science research.

Ideas for highlight topics should be submitted to NERC by 19 October 2015.

New guidance is available to explain what we are looking for, and how to submit ideas. The Strategic Programme Advisory Group (SPAG) will use these ideas to develop proposals for new highlight topics.

The aim of this process is to capture and build on ideas for excellent strategic science coming directly from the environmental science community. NERC first asked for ideas for strategic research last year, and 150 ideas were received by the cut-off date of 31 August 2014. NERC would like to thank all those who submitted ideas at that time. The ideas spanned all three of NERC's strategic challenges (benefitting from natural resources, resilience to environmental hazards and managing environmental change) and covered a broad range of environmental science disciplines. Ideas were received from research and user communities, and from individuals and groups.

The UK’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% in 2050 remains in line with the international commitment to 2°C, the Committee on Climate Change says today. The UK must also agree reductions to 2030 as part of its “fifth carbon budget”. A reduction in emissions beyond those currently agreed for the mid-2020s is consistent with the UK’s cost-effective path to 2050, and with scientific and international developments.

In a new report, ‘ The scientific and international context for the fifth carbon budget ’, the Committee sets out the climate science and global circumstances that will inform its advice to Government on the fifth carbon budget. That advice is due to be published at the end of November, ahead of the international climate talks in Paris.

For further information see here.

Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) is pleased to announce the publication of its Biodiversity Climate Change Impacts Report Card. The Report Card provides a comprehensive overview of what is happening now in the UK’s countryside, the extent to which climate change is contributing to those changes, and what we might expect to happen in the future.

The Report Card is aimed at anyone interested in understanding the latest evidence on the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in the UK. The authoritative overview is underpinned by 17 technical topic papers commissioned from leading experts, each of which presents a review of current scientific research and evidence for the impact that climate change is having on land-based and freshwater species, habitats and ecosystems in the UK. It updates the previous version published in 2013 and compliments others in the series on Water and Infrastructure.

Headline findings from the 2015 Report Card include:

• There is strong evidence that climate change is affecting UK biodiversity. Impacts are expected to increase as the magnitude of climate change increases.
• There is evidence of evolutionary responses to climate change in some species but many are unlikely to be able to adapt fast enough to keep pace with climate change
• Some habitats are especially sensitive to climate change; the risks are clearest for upland habitats, wetlands and coastal habitats
• Climate change increases the potential for non-native species introduced by people (including pests and pathogens) to establish and spread.
• If UK biodiversity is going to adapt effectively to climate change we need to improve the resilience of ecosystems across the countryside, not just in protected areas.

The card has been designed primarily to be downloaded as a click-through pdf and is now available on the LWEC website which can be found here. You can also access the technical papers which underpin the card and other relevant information from the website or the click-through document.

A new report from Blueprint for Water - Water Matters has been published. It can be found here with an accompanying blog by Mark Avery, the former RSPB Conservation Director.

Blueprint for Water have set out actions that need to be taken in the next five years to ensure everyone plays their part in halting and reversing the loss of aquatic wildlife and to make sure polluters pay. We must act now to give our waters a future. The Blueprint is calling on the Government and industry in England to ensure that by 2021 we:

• Use water wisely
• Stop pollution in our waters
• Manage floods for people and wildlife
• Create, protect and restore places for wildlife
• Join up water management

Defra is refusing to comment on growing speculation about its future ahead of an autumn review of Government spending that is expected to remove further big chunks removed from its budget.

The Liberal Democrats’ Defra spokesman has urged the Government not to ’disband’ the Department, as the Treasury considers how to make ends meet ahead of its autumn spending review.

Concern over Defra’s future surfaced again at the Liberal Democrat party conference, as Baroness Kate Parminter stressed the importance of retaining the Department to ‘champion farming and the environment together’.

Most departments, including Defra, have been asked to find savings of up to 40 per cent as Chancellor George Osborne seeks savings of £20 billion by 2020 to reduce the huge Government spending deficit.

For Defra, which has seen its budget cut from £3bn to just more than £2bn since 2010/11, this has raised serious questions about its future viability.

For further information see here.

The Met Office has released its new five year Science Strategy outlining its plans for weather and climate science 2016-2021.

This strategy aims to deliver science with impact, maximising the benefit to society of our weather and climate expertise, and making the most of the UK government's investment in Met Office high performance computing.

Professor Dame Julia Slingo , Met Office Chief Scientist, said: "Our science underpins the weather and climate services that we deliver to protect the public, help businesses and advise government.

"The drivers behind the new science strategy will focus on improving prediction systems across all timescales from hours to decades, and from the global to the local, so everyone can make the most of the opportunities presented by knowing what the weather and climate will do, both now and as our climate changes."

For information see here.

The Government’s commitment to sustainable agriculture and improving the environment is delivered through a range of tools, initiatives and best practice. These aim to protect and improve the water environment and support competitive agriculture.

We need a combination of different actions to tackle agricultural diffuse pollution of water effectively. Some action will happen as a result of advice and incentives such as through the new Countryside Stewardship scheme, or through industry-led or water company action. Other actions will result from regulation or through innovation.

This consultation is of direct interest to farmers, farm advisers and contractors, and is of interest to envrionmental organisations and water and sewerage companies.

We are seeking your views on the introduction of a small number of new basic rules for farmers through legislation which will improve the efficiency of farms and help to reduce water pollution from agriculture, with a focus on phosphorus. These rules are intended to be clear and simple, and will be supported by advice. They would not be part of cross-compliance.

For more information see here

Defra responds to the Natural Capital Committee’s third state of natural capital report, published in January 2015.

This response sets out how Defra will act on the recommendations in the Natural Capital Committee’s third State of Natural Capital report. Click here to read the report. This includes working with others to develop a strategy and 25 year plan for protecting and improving the benefits we get from our natural resources. 

For further details and to see the Government's response see here.

August was an unsettled month, feeling autumnal at times and lacking many hot summer days. Most areas of the UK received a combination of light showers, persistent rainfall from frontal systems and torrential downpours from thunderstorms. Rainfall anomalies were most significant along the south coast of England, with more than double the average rainfall received across large areas, and approaching three times the average in some locations. Daily rainfall totals that were similar to average monthly totals triggered flash flooding that impacted properties and transport networks in a number of localities. River flows in August were seasonally high in the wettest southern areas of the UK (relative to average), but not of sufficient magnitude to cause extensive fluvial flooding.

Despite the wet weather across much of the aquifer outcrop areas of southern England, groundwater levels continued their seasonal recessions in most boreholes in England and Wales. Reservoir stocks increased substantially in Northern Ireland, with overall stocks there, and in western Scotland and northern England registering as significantly above average. Soil moisture deficits generally decreased in August and were below average across the aquifer areas of southern England. As a result, groundwater recharge through autumn is unlikely to be delayed in these areas and, combined with near average reservoir stocks for England and Wales, indicates that the water resources outlook remains healthy.

Further details can be found here.

Closing Date 4pm 22 October 2015

The Environment Agency has indicated that they would welcome academic partners to work with them on the priorities in their Working with Natural Processes Research Framework. Details of the call can be found here.

The evidence needs for Defra, Natural England and the JNCC are also available on the web page.

Please note that this call has £150k for short feasibility projects and internships completing before 31 March 2016 as well as for longer term projects of up to £125K at 80% FEC in value.

The Follow-on Fund is a 'proof of concept' fund to support the commercialisation of ideas arising from that NERC-funded research. This funding picks up where research programme and discovery science (responsive mode) grants leave off and enables those research outputs to be further developed so their commercial potential can be realised.

Examples of activities funded include technology licensing, launching technology-based products or services, selling know-how based consultancy services, and the commercialisation of NERC-funded datasets. Proposals are invited for projects pursuing any of these approaches or, indeed, others.

This call will allow proposals for up to £125k at 100% FEC (£100k NERC contribution at 80% FEC) for up to 12 months, starting in April 2016.

For further information see here.

The Innovation Projects Open Call will fund projects that increase and accelerate the uptake and impact of NERC funded research outputs by supporting translational and knowledge exchange activity which delivers direct tangible and demonstrable benefits to end users, particularly businesses.

Funds will be used to support projects which focus upon generating user applicable outputs from past and/or current NERC supported research and which translates them into outcomes that achieve impact.

This call will allow proposals for up to £125k at 100% FEC (£100k NERC contribution at 80% FEC) for up to 24 months, starting in April 2016. NERC anticipates seeing a range of requests within the £125k limit/24 month limits, reflecting the range of potential projects and activities.

For further information see here.

Do contact keschemes@nerc.ac.uk if our guidance doesn’t answer your query.

Announcement of Opportunity: Soil Security - Research fellowship awards

Closing date for proposals: 16:00 on 3 December 2015

NERC and the Scottish Government are inviting proposals for fellowship awards of up to three years' duration, which will address the objectives of the Soil Security programme.

The overarching aim of the Soil Security programme is to advance understanding of the ability of soils to adapt to perturbations. It will do this by building an integrated and predictive understanding of the multiple functions of soil. This will improve forecasts of the soil system’s response to changes in climate, vegetation or land management at scales of analysis that match the scale of decision making. Delivering this aim, NERC recognises the opportunity to train a new generation of scientists who have the skills and knowledge needed to take a more multi-disciplinary approach to the study of soil, embracing new techniques and approaches from the physical, chemical and biological sciences.

Funding of up to £2m (80% FEC) from NERC and the Scottish Government is available to support projects submitted to this call. It is anticipated that up to six fellowships may be supported, depending on the size and quality of the proposals received.

Applicants are referred to the Announcement of Opportunitywhich can be found here.

Announcement of Opportunity: Soil Security - Research fellowship awards

Resilience of the UK food system in a global context - call now open

NERC as part of The Global Food Security (GFS) programme is pleased to announce that the first call of its new research programme 'Resilience of the UK food system in a global context' is now open.

This programme has been co-designed by the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC), NERC, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Scottish Government. The research councils are contributing £14m over five years to support interdisciplinary research to address this major food security challenge. The programme will fund high quality research projects which integrate science areas from all of the research councils.

Further information can be found here.

1. Call for science ideas: Energy Security & Innovation Observing System for the Subsurface project

Closing date: 16:00 on 30 October 2015

NERC invites the UK energy and Earth science community to submit high-level ideas for the science capability and capacity requirements of the Energy Security & Innovation Observing System for the Subsurface (ESIOS) project.

ESIOS will establish world-leading knowledge that will be applicable to a wide range of energy technologies, both within the UK and internationally. ESIOS will provide national science facilities for:

1. Monitoring and observing - answering questions on how subsurface energy technologies interact with the environment.
2. Independent scientific evidence - answering questions on new and established energy supply and storage technology, increasing efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Full information on the call is available here.
If you have any queries, please contact: esiosscience@nerc.ac.uk.

2. Energy Security & Innovation Observing System for the Subsurface project town hall meeting

22 October 2015 (Thursday)

British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG
Registration closes 2 October 2015

NERC is holding a town hall meeting for the Energy Security & Innovation Observing System for the Subsurface (ESIOS) project on Thursday 22 October 2015. We invite the UK energy and Earth science community, and others with an interest in the ESIOS project, to attend to help us develop science ideas for the ESIOS project

The following broad themes, as well as ideas from participants, will be discussed at the town hall meeting:

• Subsurface fluid flow, heat, biological material (biofilms), geodynamics, geophysics, etc.
• Subsurface energy technology sectors, such as geothermal, carbon capture and storage, shale gas, energy storage, etc.
• Environmental impacts on groundwater, soils, carbon cycle, etc.

To register for the town hall meeting please complete the online registration form here.

The outlook for September is for river flows to be in the normal range across much of the UK, although the far south of England is likely to see above normal flows, mainly reflecting the influence of the exceptionally wet August in this area. Normal flows are the most likely outcome over the next three months. For groundwater, normal levels predominate in the southern Chalk, again partly reflecting the wet August, while below-normal levels persist in parts of north-east England. The three month outlook suggests mostly normal to below-normal groundwater levels. Autumn rainfall will be influential in determining the longer-term outlook but the recharge season will thus commence from a normal or moderately below normal baseline.

Further details can be found here.