NC-UK News and events

News and events

Upcoming events for the National Capability for UK Challenges (NC-UK) programme

Over the next five years, the NC-UK programme will host a diverse range of events focused on integrated environmental monitoring. These events will bring together scientists, researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, and community members to address key environmental monitoring challenges.

The NC-UK programme will cover four key themes: Hydrological Extremes, Land Use and Net Zero, Pollution, and Biodiversity. It will include meetings, conferences, interactive workshops, and webinars, all designed to provide expert insights and foster collaboration.

If you would like to be kept informed of upcoming in-person and online events, please subscribe to our mailing list.

The following are events we are either attending or hosting:

Attendees of the Dutch-UK Knowledge Exchange Workshop, Windermere, UK.

Dutch-UK knowledge exchange workshop on the future of freshwaters

Along with colleagues from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO), UKCEH hosted a one-day knowledge-exchange event on the sunny shores of Windermere on Friday the 16th May. Freshwater ecologists, water industry personnel and researchers from the Netherlands and UK shared their personal perspectives on freshwater ecosystem management. The day was filled with positivity and collective experiences in a welcoming space; the Windermere Jetty Museum, proving the value of learning from others by providing fresh perspectives and enthusiasm. Dr Stephen Thackeray, Dr Ellie Mackay and Dr Heather Moorhouse from the Aquatic Ecosystems Group in Lancaster led the day, bringing insights from their research on the Cumbrian Lakes.

The day was split into two parts with each containing panel and audience discussions following presentations from keynote speakers. The morning was focused on understanding the current state of freshwaters in the UK and the Netherlands, with the afternoon centred on what is needed to ensure resilient freshwaters in the future.

NC-UK Science Series

Environmental Monitoring & Measurement: Responding to the Emerging Future

Residential Workshop
3��4 June 2025

NC-UK will host a two-day facilitated residential workshop on 3��4 June 2025, bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders to explore the future of environmental monitoring.

Designed around a holistic, systems-based approach, the workshop will foster transdisciplinary dialogue across the terrestrial and freshwater monitoring communities. Participants will work collaboratively to identify and examine the most critical environmental challenges anticipated by 2030 and beyond.

The primary objective of the workshop is to build shared understanding and cultivate partnerships that support the co-design and development of future UK environmental monitoring schemes.

Attendance is by invitation only.

Help co-design a Restoration Hub

UKCEH aims to co-produce, with the nature recovery practice community, a free to use data and knowledge hub. The platform will meet the needs and requirements of different stakeholders through activities such as digitising and mapping restoration and rewilding activities and providing data on what is being monitored; species, habitats of interest, extent, wellbeing etc.

Find out more about the plans and how to get involved

Loch Leven Matters - Free water quality science events 11-13 June 2025

When high levels of nutrients from runoff or wastewater enter our lochs, it affects the natural balance of the ecosystem, and can cause harmful algal blooms. Harmful algal blooms can kill aquatic life and produce toxins that affect the health of people and animals.

Algal blooms are increasing at Loch Leven so we are asking the public to help us develop a research strategy and management options to help reduce their impact and improve water quality.

On 11 and 12 June we will be running community conversations to hear how people are using Loch Leven and how its water quality impacts you. These conversations are free and open to all!

Community conversation �� tell us how you use the Loch and how its water quality affects you.

11 June 2025, 18:30 �� 20:30, The Green Hotel, 2 The Muirs, Kinross KY13 8AS
12 June 2025, 18:30 �� 20:30, The Grouse and Claret, Heatheryford, Kinross KY13 0NQ (repeat event)

Science activity evening �� see science in action and learn how you can help track algal blooms in the Loch. Please wear outdoor clothing.

13 June 2025, 18:00 �� 20:00, Loch Leven's Larder/Channel Farm, Kinross KY13 9HD

Help Track Harmful Algal Blooms with the Bloomin�� Algae App

Did you know you can help protect public health by reporting harmful algal blooms? The Bloomin�� Algae app allows you to quickly and easily report sightings of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), speeding up public health warnings and raising awareness of potential risks to people, pets, and wildlife.

By submitting your records, you contribute to a real-time picture of harmful algal blooms in your area. This vital information helps environment agencies, local authorities, and landowners take early action, providing timely warnings to the public when needed.

Download Bloomin�� Algae today and be part of the effort to keep your community safe!

Find out more information and how to download the app

Festival of Nature �� The Dataset’s Dream

09 June, 8pm - 10pm

The Dataset’s Dream is a dusk-time storytelling experience where nature, art and data combine in one inspirational experience. This curious, sorrow-full, hope-full, data-full installation is created by Artist Bryony Benge-Abbott and Poet Thomas Sharp, in collaboration with scientists from the UK �ʹ�� for Ecology & Hydrology and supported by NC-UK exploring the question of what is lost and what is gained when we turn nature into data?

Open to the public. No need to book, just drop in! We have a limited number of headsets available so please bring a mobile phone and headphones to access the audio experience.

Event address, St George Park, Church Road, Whitehall, Bristol, BS5 7AA | What3Words location: ///sports.radio.cracks

For more information, please contact [email protected]

Loch Leven Discovery Day

Join UKCEH and NC-UK as we talk to visitors about the freshwater plants and animals living in the loch and how they are affected by climate change and pollution. The focus is on practical steps the public can take to help reduce phosphorus pollution, which contributes to potentially toxic algal blooms. We will also share information on the Bloomin�� Algae app, a useful tool for reporting and tracking algal blooms. This event is open to the public.

14 June 2025

Address - Loch Leven Discovery Day, Kirkgate Park, Kinross (parkland beside Loch Leven)

For more information, please contact Linday May (UKCEH) [email protected] or Jeremy Squire (NatureScot) [email protected]

Community Conversation

Enhancing Access to Data Science in Environmental Research
9th July 2025

Join the UK �ʹ�� for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) as part of our National Capability for UK Challenges (NC-UK) programme, for an interactive online workshop exploring how to improve discoverability and access to data science methods in environmental science. Taking place via Microsoft Teams on 9th July 2025, from 1:00��3:00pm, this session will introduce the new ‘Data Science Toolbox’—a curated set of open-source notebooks featuring adaptable methods in statistics, machine learning, AI, and more.

The event is open to all but may be of most interest to individuals working with environmental data. Join us to share your view on how we can make methods more discoverable, explore how these tools can serve your research needs and help shape the future direction of this community-driven resource.

Land and Water in a Changing Climate

Land and Water in a Changing Climate �� what’s next for Science and Policy?

A two-day in-person event�� taking place at The Royal Society, London from the 24 - 25 September 2025 that will bring together the hydrological and land-surface modelling community, industry and policy makers across the UK to share insights on how research can influence policy decisions and address critical hydrological challenges.

Registration and abstract submission will open shortly. Please email [email protected] or visit the Hydro-JULES website for further information.

UK Atmospheric Chemistry Conference

9��10 September 2025 | York, UK

The National �ʹ�� for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), the UK �ʹ�� for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), and the National �ʹ�� for Earth Observation (NCEO) are pleased to host the first-ever UK Atmospheric Chemistry Conference. This conference will bring together the UK’s atmospheric chemistry community to explore all aspects of atmospheric composition �� from observations to modelling, and everything in between.

As part of the programme, UKCEH will engage directly with the air quality modelling community to discuss the current implementation of deposition schemes within major Atmospheric Chemistry Transport Models (ACTMs).

This dialogue will pave the way for a dedicated follow-up meeting where we will collaborate to co-design proposals to the research councils to improved approaches for representing removal processes in ACTMs. this conference is supported jointly by the NC programmes of UKCEH, NCAS NCEO and NOC.

Cumbrian Lakes Research Forum

Thursday 6 November 2025

2025 marks the 10th year of the Cumbrian Lakes Research Forum and 80 years of continuous data collection on lakes in the Windermere catchment, now carried out by UKCEH under the NC-UK programme. We wish to mark this momentous achievement by hosting the biggest Cumbrian Lakes Research Forum to date and showcasing the importance of this long-term monitoring programme and where it has influenced research and management of lakes across local, national, and international scales. The event will also focus on the need for evidence-driven policy and management.

All welcome. An in-person event at the Windermere Jetty Museum, Rayrigg Road, Bowness on Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 1BN

The state of lakes in the Windermere catchment

National Environmental Monitoring Conference (NEMC) 2025

This one-day conference will build on the success of NEMC 2024. It is aimed at those who deliver, use, or could benefit from national monitoring activities across the UK. The session will focus on strengthening the UK’s environmental evidence system by enhancing the visibility of existing data, improving access, identifying critical gaps, and exploring opportunities for a more cohesive approach.

15 December 2025, Edinburgh, EICC

Further details to follow shortly.

NC-UK at BES Annual Meeting 2025

UKCEH and NC-UK will be returning to the BES Annual Meeting 2025 at the EICC, Edinburgh from the 16th- 18 December.

Exciting News! Paper Shortlisted for the Harper Prize

The paper ��A diversity of diversities: Do complex environmental effects underpin associations between below- and above-ground taxa?��, co-authored by Fiona Seaton, has been shortlisted for the Harper Prize, awarded by the by an early career researcher.

The study explored whether high plant diversity correlates with greater diversity in soil animals, microbes, pollinators, or birds. Using data from the Glastir Monitoring and Evaluation Programme - a field survey across Wales funded by the Welsh Government and supported by the UKScaPE programme, the findings highlighted complex environmental responses shaping biodiversity patterns.

The data that supports the findings of this study are openly available:

(Robinson et al., 2019)
(Smart et al., 2020)
(Botham et al., 2020),
(Siriwardena et al., 2020)
Soil microbial sequences data in the European Nucleotide Archive with primary accession codes: (16S), (ITS1) and (18S).

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