People in Aberdeen will have the chance this week to find out how decisions are made for funding environmental science and to e their views on how they think a £270 million budget should be spent.
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) spends that amount each year on environmental science. Funding comes from the public purse so people have a right to voice their opinions on how they think some of the money should be spent.
For the past two years,NERC has opened up one of its Council meetings so that the public can see how decisions about funding priorities are made and discuss issues that are important to them. This year the meeting will be held on Thursday, 27 November at The Queen's Hotel in Aberdeen.
Professor Dominic Houlihan, Vice Principal (Research & Commercialisation), at the University of Aberdeen, is enthusiastic about the collaborative working partnership Aberdeen has with NERC. He said: "We are delighted that NERC is holding its open council meeting in Aberdeen where there is a strong commitment to the environment and sustainable development. The University of Aberdeen is one of the main research-led universities in Scotland and receives significant amounts of money from the Natural Environment Research Council to aid its environmental research."
Scottish-based researchers are currently working on a vast array of scientific programmes funded by NERC. At the University of Aberdeen there are a number of studies ranging from how carbon flowing around the roots of plants drives soil biodiversity, to the effects of toxins on the immune systems of fish.
At the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, one of NERC's research centres, scientists have been looking at the problems of having a diet with too much or too little of the essential minerals people need to stay healthy. And at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Banchory, near Aberdeen, researchers are involved in a number of studies aimed at resolving ecological conflict.