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NERC Freshwater Quality Programme

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) have appointed Professor Joseph Holden and Professor Pippa Chapman as Freshwater Quality Champions and leaders of this new programme that will study water quality of UK rivers.

The four year NERC programme will run from 2022 to 2026, and is titled ‘Understanding changes in quality of UK freshwaters’, aims to:

  • investigate how pollutants enter, leave and interact with rivers and supporting ecosystems
  • determine how the movement of pollutants will be modified with changes in the water cycle
  • create better tools to monitor and measure pollution.

The programme will oversee five different research projects, each focusing on a different aspect of water quality. Each project will be interdisciplinary and bring together a range of experts needed to deliver the integrated and cross sectional research required.


Monthly Webinar Series

Join a monthly series of webinars on a range of related topics organised by the Champions Team. These include updates on project progress and are designed to promote communications and interactions between researchers, the policy community, business and practitioners who can all shape future UK freshwater quality. See Events list below for more information on the speakers.

Webinars - watch again

Each webinar includes a 30 minute presentation with time for questions afterwards. The presentations are recorded  -  watch the up-to-date playlist here.


This short film provides an introduction to the aims of the programme:

Research Projects

Projects

Find out more about the five UK-wide research projects, each focusing on different aspects of water quality

Upcoming events

UK Freshwater Quality Programme Webinar July 2025

Bacterial Diversity and Antimicrobial Resistance in the Gastrointestinal Tracts of River Swimmers in the United Kingdom Presented by Elitsa Menkova,...

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News

UK Freshwater Quality Programme News - Spring 2025

The UK Freshwater Quality Programme Spring 2025 newsletter is now published. The newsletter is produced by the Champion team based in water@leeds,...

UK Freshwater Quality Programme - Autumn News 2024

The UK Freshwater Quality Programme Autumn newsletter is now published. The Freshwater Quality Programme Autumn 2024 newsletter, has been produced...

UK Freshwater Quality Programme News

The UK Freshwater Quality Programme Spring newsletter is now published. The Freshwater Quality Programme Spring 2024 newsletter, has been produced...

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Previous events

See our past events and project presentations