Governance

Our legal status

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) is a registered Charity in England & Wales (number 1185618) and in Scotland (number SC049849), and a registered Company Limited by Guarantee in England & Wales (number 11314957). The Centre owns a registered trading subsidiary, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Enterprise, a Company Limited by Shares (number 12251749), which supports our charitable purpose. The registered office of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is at the Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK.

Trustee directors

Professor Mark J Bailey FAAM, FRSB, Executive Director

Professor Mark J Bailey FAAM, FRSB, Executive Director

Mark leads and manages UKCEH. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and the American Academy of Microbiology.

Lord Cameron of Dillington (Chair)

Lord Cameron of Dillington

Ewen Cameron serves as an independent crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and chairs the House of Lords Select Committee for Natural Environment and Rural Communities. He was Chairman of the Countryside Agency and a member of the Defra landscapes review panel.

Lynette Eastman

Lynette Eastman

Lynette has extensive board-level experience of leading culture and business transformation and supporting business leaders to translate their plans into customer-oriented solutions. She has worked as HR Director and specialist Director of Talent and Resourcing across a wide range of corporate organisations worldwide, most recently as Director, HR Transformation and Operations at HMRC.

Will Galgey

Will Galgey

Will is Global Chief Commercial Officer of the Insights Division of Kantar, the market research, data and consulting company. He was previously UK CEO of the Insights Division of Kantar, UK CEO of Kantar TNS, Global CEO of The Futures Company and Managing Director of The Henley Centre.

Professor Iain Gillespie FRSE FRSB

Professor Iain Gillespie

Iain is Principal and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Dundee. He was formerly Director of Science and Innovation at the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and lead director for international research across all seven UK Research Councils that are now part of UKRI.

Linda Naylor

Linda Naylor

Linda was previously Managing Director of Oxford University Innovation, the University of Oxford’s technology commercialisation company. Prior to this she spent over 25 years in industry with ICI, Zeneca and Monsanto involved in the technical and commercial management of developing bioproduct.

Benet Northcote

Benet Northcote

Benet is a senior adviser to businesses and NGOs. He was formerly Director of Corporate Responsibility for the John Lewis Partnership. He is a Trustee of Green Alliance and is Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Environment Network. He has been Deputy Private Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales and Chief Policy Adviser to Greenpeace UK.

Neil Scragg

Neil Scragg

Neil is a Scottish Chartered Accountant and Partner of Caird Capital. He previously worked at Gresham LLP and has been a non-executive board member of over 30 businesses in manufacturing, retail, engineering, services and leisure.

Alexia Tye

Alexia Tye

Alexia has held senior management positions at Barclays, HSBC and GIC, based in Paris, London, Hong Kong and Singapore where she led energy, water and transport financing. Alexia was previously CFO, HR Director and Paris Centre Director at the Oceanographic Institute - Prince Albert I of Monaco Foundation. She is currently a board member of several charities in the environmental, social and humanitarian sectors.

Our charitable objects

The Company’s objects are for the benefit of the public, within the United Kingdom and overseas. They are: to advance science; to advance education in the environment and environmental sciences, and sustainable development; and to promote sustainable development for the benefit of the public.

Executive directors

Professor Mark J Bailey FAAM, FRSB, Executive Director

Professor Mark J Bailey FAAM, FRSB, Executive Director

Mark leads and manages UKCEH. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and the American Academy of Microbiology.

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Gill Lay, Director for People and Operations

Gill Lay, Director for People and Operations

Gill leads UKCEH people management and internal communications approach, provision of facilities and health and safety and environment policy and advice. She is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

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Professor Alan Jenkins, Deputy Director and Director of Science

Professor Alan Jenkins, Deputy Director and Director of Science

Alan provides scientific leadership for UKCEH. He is Hydrological Advisor for the UK Met Office with the World Meteorological Office and Chair of the UK National Focal Centre for the UNESCO International Hydrology Programme.

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Dr Nick Wells MBA, Director of Impact & Innovation

Dr Nick Wells MBA, Director of Impact & Innovation

Nick is the UKCEH Director of Impact & Innovation and Managing Director of UKCEH Enterprise Limited, and has responsibility for the impact and innovation strategy for UKCEH alongside business development, external communications, research contracts, commercialisation and quality assurance.

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Sam Bullen

Sam Bullen, Finance Director

Sam leads the finance aspects of UKCEH’s operations. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. Sam was previously Deputy Chief Financial Officer at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and before that he spent 13 years at BP plc in various finance roles.

Our relationship with UK Research and Innovation

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is a strategic delivery partner for the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.  

Through our national capability programmes, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, we enable the UK research community to stay at the forefront of environmental science globally, and we meet national strategic needs, informing government and business decision-making on environmental issues. 

Victoria McMyn, Programme Director for the Natural Environment Research Council, attends our Board of Trustees meeting as an Observer.

Science Board

Professor Alan Jenkins, Deputy Director and Director of Science

Professor Alan Jenkins, Deputy Director and Director of Science

Alan provides scientific leadership for UKCEH. He is Hydrological Advisor for the UK Met Office with the World Meteorological Office and Chair of the UK National Focal Centre for the UNESCO International Hydrology Programme.

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Professor Bridget Emmett, Science Area Head, Soils and Land Use

Professor Bridget Emmett, Science Area Head, Soils and Land Use

Bridget is a member of the EU Mission Board for Soil Health and Food, was the Specialist Advisor to the 2016 UK Parliamentary Inquiry into Soil Health, and is Chair of the NERC Soil Security Programme Advisory Board.

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Professor Richard Pywell, Science Area Head, Biodiversity

Professor Richard Pywell, Science Area Head, Biodiversity

Richard provides scientific leadership for biodiversity research in UKCEH. He is also leads the Achieving Sustainable Agricultural Systems (ASSIST) national capability programme and leads the research partnership agreement between Defra and UKCEH.

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Dr Gwyn Rees, Science Area Head, Water Resources

Dr Gwyn Rees, Science Area Head, Water Resources

Gwyn has over 26 years’ experience in applied hydrology. He sits on many national and international committees and expert panels, including the CIWEM Water Resources Panel in the UK and the Advisory Committee of the WMO-Global Water Partnership Integrated Drought Management Programme.

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Dr Stefan Reis, Science Area Head, Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects

Dr Stefan Reis, Science Area Head, Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects

Stefan is a Fellow of the International Society for Environmental Modelling and Software Systems and the Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, and Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Exeter Medical School.

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Nick Reynard, Science Area Head, Hydro-climate Risks

Nick Reynard, Science Area Head, Hydro-climate Risks

Nick is Science Area Head for Hydro-Climatic Risks. He represents UKCEH on the Steering Group of the Natural Hazards Partnership (NHP) and provided hydrological advice for the National Flood Resilience Review, the Pitt Review and the UK Foresight Flooding programme.

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Dr Claus Svendsen, Science Area Head, Pollution

Dr Claus Svendsen, Science Area Head, Pollution

My work revolves around developing the understanding of how the environment and its organisms deal with stressors, both man-made and natural, as well as their combinations.

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Dr Nick Wells MBA, Director of Impact & Innovation

Dr Nick Wells MBA, Director of Impact & Innovation

Nick is the UKCEH Director of Impact & Innovation and Managing Director of UKCEH Enterprise Limited, and has responsibility for the impact and innovation strategy for UKCEH alongside business development, external communications, research contracts, commercialisation and quality assurance.

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