Soils are at the heart of a major new research initiative - the Centre for Sustainable Soils - launched last week at Lancaster University, with UKCEH playing a central role in shaping its direction and scientific ambition.
Soils underpin food production, regulate water quality, store carbon, support biodiversity and help mitigate floods—yet they remain one of the least understood and most degraded natural resources. The new Centre seeks to address this gap by uniting soil specialists with experts across environmental science, engineering, plant science, data science, social sciences, business, and the arts and humanities.
The Centre for Sustainable Soils, based within Lancaster University’s Faculty of Science and Technology, brings together more than 60 researchers, including over 20 from UKCEH. The Centre aims to transform understanding of how soils function, how they are changing, and how society can protect and restore them for future generations.
UKCEH Director of Science, Kathryn Brown spoke at the launch event, alongside Professor Simon Guy, Pro-Vice Chancellor Global from Lancaster University and Ellen Fay from the Sustainable Soils Alliance.
Professor Jeanette Whitaker, UKCEH Associate Science Director who is a member of the new Centre’s leadership team, emphasised the significance of the collaboration:
“UKCEH and Lancaster University have been collaborating on soil-related research for more than 25 years, building breadth and depth in our complementary expertise. Through this interdisciplinary Centre, we are building on this shared history to generate the evidence and solutions needed to protect soils for food security, climate resilience and nature recovery.”
The Centre’s ambition is to create a globally distinctive hub for soil research—one that integrates scientific, technological and societal perspectives to tackle urgent sustainability challenges.
Research themes addressing global challenges
The Centre’s work is organised around three interconnected themes:
- Functional soils — understanding the physical, chemical and biological processes that drive soil change and link soils to wider environmental systems.
- Changing soils — assessing how land use, pollution, climate change and other human pressures affect soils and the consequences for people and ecosystems.
- Recovering soils — developing practical approaches to rebuild soil health, enhance resilience and support food production, biodiversity and climate mitigation.
A £1.5 million investment, including funding from the University and a £500,000 donation from the Fort Foundation, has helped refurbish and equip new laboratory facilities.
The laboratory includes a broad range of equipment that will provide soil scientists with the capability to look for physical, chemical and biological properties within soils.
Further information
Discover more about the Centre for Sustainable Soils.
Why not revisit one of the past episodes of our Counting the Earth podcast. Soil Superheroes: 50 trillion - delves into the vital statistics of earthworms. Alongside UKCEH scientist Alex Robinson this episode features Ellen Fay, Executive Director of the Sustainable Soils Alliance. Ellen was the keynote speaker at the launch event for the Centre for Sustainable Soils.