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 two registered trading subsidiaries, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Enterprise, a Company Limited by Shares (number 12251749), which supports our charitable purpose, and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology International Ltd (number 15670898) a Company Limited by Guarantee, which will enable us to operate effectively outside of the UK.

Trustee directors

Judith Batchelar OBE
Judith Batchelar OBE
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Judith has 40 years’ experience in the food and drink industry, notably as Sainsbury’s brand director from 2004-2021. She is currently deputy chair of The Environment Agency and a trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. A biochemist and nutritionist with an honorary doctorate in agriculture, Judith chaired the UK Government’s AgriTech Leadership Council from 2013 to 2018. She received an OBE in 2015 for services to farming and the food industry.
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 Managing Director, 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.
Prof. Iain Gillespie
Prof. 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. Iain is an Honorary Fellow at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).
Prof. Sir Charles Godfray FRS
Prof. Sir Charles Godfray FRS
Charles is Director of the Oxford Martin School and Professor of Population Biology at Oxford University. He has a research background in ecology, evolution and epidemiology, and has been active in science advice to government, most recently as Chair of Defra’s Science Advisory Council.
Victoria McMyn
Victoria McMyn
Victoria is currently chief change officer at UK Shared Business Services and was previously chief operating officer at the Natural Environment Research Council. She brings extensive experience in leading operations, business change and transformation programmes.
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.
Prof. Emily Shuckburgh OBE
Prof. Emily Shuckburgh OBE
Emily is the director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s climate change initiative. She is a mathematician and professor of environmental data science at Cambridge’s Department of Computer Science and Technology. She leads the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training on the Application of AI to the Study of Environmental Risks and is a director of the Centre for Landscape Regeneration.
Alexia Tye
Alexia Tye
Alexia has a financial services background at leading institutions including Barclays, HSBC, and GIC in Paris, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. She served as Finance Director and Centre Director at the Oceanographic Institute, Prince Albert I of Monaco Foundation from 2013 to 2019.
Dr Stuart Wainwright OBE is Chief Executive of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, taking up this position in June 2023.

Our relationship with UK Research and Innovation

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is an independent research institute.   

Through our national capability programmes, funded by UKRI-NERC, 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. 

Executive Committee

Dr Stuart Wainwright OBE is Chief Executive of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, taking up this position in June 2023.
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Eleanor is the acting Science Area Head for Water resources. Her main area of work is to represent the land surface in meteorological and hydrological models.
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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.
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Harry is Director of International Research & Development at UKCEH. His research background is as a hydrologist specialising in hydrometric monitoring networks. Harry has extensive experience engaging with UN and other international organisations on research, policy and capacity development.
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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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Eiko is an Environmental Physicist, leading the Group ‘Biosphere-Atmosphere Exchange & Effects’ within the Science Area 'Atmospheric Chemistry & Effects' at UKCEH's Edinburgh site.
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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. Daniel Read
Dr. Daniel Read
Acting Science Area Head - Soils & Land Use / Group leader - Molecular Ecology
Dan is the acting Science Area Head for Soils and Land Use. His research focuses on the application of DNA sequencing and analysis to understand how the structure and function of freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems respond to environmental change.
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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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Alison Sternberg Robinson
Alison Sternberg Robinson
Director of Partnerships and Impact
Alison is the Executive Director of Partnerships & Impact at UKCEH. Before joining UKCEH Alison was Deputy Executive Chair of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation. Alison works across UKCEH, external partners and funders to ensure our science is accessible, used and makes a tangible difference to people across the UK and internationally.
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Claus's research 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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Doug is Science Director at UKCEH. He sets science strategy for the organisation and is responsible for delivering a programme of research that spans water, land and air.
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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.