The Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) in
Lancaster, England
Lancaster (, ) is a city in Lancashire, England, and the main cultural hub, economic and commercial centre of City of Lancaster district. The city is on the River Lune, directly inland from Morecambe Bay. Lancaster is the county town, altho ...
, is an interdisciplinary centre for teaching, research and collaboration at
Lancaster University
Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...
, founded in 2007.
Facilities
LEC's facilities were a joint investment eventually costing over £35 million by
NERC /
UKCEH and Lancaster University. There are UKCEH and Lancaster University laboratories, developed partly by a new extension to Lancaster University's former Biological and Environmental Sciences building and partly by extensive refurbishment of areas of the existing laboratories. Research activities span both organisations. There are extensive research laboratories, fifteen
glasshouses and ten walk-in controlled environment rooms. These include high-grade containment facilities for research with genetically modified organisms and
radionuclide
A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...
s.
On 22 May 2007, the
Gordon Manley Building (LEC III) was opened by
Lord Rees of Ludlow Kt. The £8.4m building provides new office, laboratory and meeting-room space for geographers and environmental scientists. It also provides offices, meeting and training rooms for LEC's Enterprise & Business Partnerships Team and offices for companies wishing to locate into LEC or to co-locate new activities.
In addition to the main site is a 1000m²
prefabricated building
A prefabricated building, informally a prefab, is a building that is manufactured and constructed using prefabrication. It consists of factory-made components or units that are transported and assembled on-site to form the complete building. Vario ...
at the northern end of
campus
A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls.
By extension, a corp ...
, which houses
environmental engineering
Environmental engineering is a professional engineering Academic discipline, discipline related to environmental science. It encompasses broad Science, scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiolo ...
and instrumentation workshops and large-scale sample preparation facilities for UKCEH. There is a weather station and several field stations around the world.
Organisation
Several interdisciplinary grand research challenges provide a focus for LEC's fundamental and applied research:
*Agri-Food - facilitate the development of globally relevant and accessible food systems by 2030.
* Eco-Innovation - sustainable patterns of consumption and production.
* Science for the Anthropocene - seeking a different, pragmatic approach to science for the future that puts the human dimension centre stage.
* Sustainable Catchments - sustainable management of rainfall catchment areas for the benefit of downstream water flows and quality.
* Tropical Futures - understanding the social and ecosystem issues in the tropics to foster better outcomes for both people and the environment.
Specific interdisciplinary research groups were reorganised in 2016:
*Atmosphere, Climate and Pollution - the sources, transformation, trends and fate of chemicals in the environment with a focus on atmospheric composition, air quality and climate.
* Critical Geographies - critical geographies that are vital to sustainability, social and
environmental justice
Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...
and our collective futures. Led by Professor Gordon Walker or Professor Nigel Clark.
* Earth Science: Volcanology and Hazards, Contemporary Environmental Processes, Sub-surface Fluids and Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoenvironments.
* Ecology and Conservation - molecular, behavioural and ecological techniques to understand how ecosystems function, how they respond to global change, and how they can be managed to enhance biodiversity and its associated services.
* Environmental and
Biogeochemistry
Biogeochemistry is the Branches of science, scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemistry, chemical, physics, physical, geology, geological, and biology, biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natu ...
- inorganic chemistry, stable and radioactive isotopes, noble gases and trace organic analysis.
* Geospatial
Data Science
Data science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processing, scientific visualization, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge from potentially noisy, stru ...
- innovative spatial techniques in order to increase our understanding of a wide range of environmental and socio-ecological systems.
Political Ecology- relationship between culture, politics and nature. Led by Professor Simon Batterbury and since 2019, Professor Frances Cleaver.
* Soil, Plant and Land Systems - molecular to the crop scale.
* Water Science - pure and applied research studying processes that control the movement, availability and quality of water.
These provide a range of research interests within the Lancaster Environment Centre and are post-disciplinary. A Graduate School of the Environment was launched in 2016, to provide a focus for Masters and PhD students, in partnership with UKCEH and
Rothamsted Research
Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural experiment station, agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founde ...
.
LEC Centres
In addition to this research endeavour, the LEC researchers collaborate through a number of research centres to provide a specific strategic research focus on particular areas of current concern. These undertake
blue skies research
Blue skies research, also called blue sky science, is scientific research in domains where "real-world" applications are not immediately apparent. It has been defined as "research without a clear goal" and "curiosity-driven science". Proponents of ...
and provide a strategic focus for LEC's collaborative work with science users, including policymakers and industry.
Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science
The Centre is currently targeting the development of self-managing heterogeneous infrastructures for data gathering and analysis at a wide range of temporal and spatial scales for both science and industry. This experimental research is motivated by the need to characterise and model the non-linear interdependencies between dynamic natural processes and enable improved prediction of the impacts of factors such as climate change and changes in land-use.
Centre for Global Eco-Innovation
The Centre for Global Eco-Innovation supports the development of new products and services with environmental benefits.
Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business
The Pentland Centre is a
joint research centre
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to European Union (EU) policy.
Leadersh ...
with Lancaster University Management School delivering research on sustainability in business. Led by Prof. Jan Bebbington and formerly, Prof. Gail Whiteman.
Enterprise & business partnerships
The purpose of the business incubation centre within LEC is to allow environmental business to rent office space within the centre, enabling faster business growth through finding easier access to LEC research, knowledge, laboratories, clean rooms, workshops and specialist instruments.
Recognition
*Placed 19th in the UK for Geography undergraduate degree in 2023 Guardian University Guide
* Placed 3rd in the UK for real-world impact of research in
Research Excellence Framework
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is ...
2014
* Placed 1st for knowledge exchange and commercialisation in UK Impact Awards 2015
*Emeritus Professor
Keith Beven is the most highly cited hydrologist in the world.
References
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Entrepreneurship organizations
Environment of the United Kingdom
Environmental research institutes
Departments of Lancaster University
Natural Environment Research Council
Research institutes in the United Kingdom