The wastewater research team at Bangor University took home the Overall Impact Award and was awarded £20,000 at this year’s NERC Impact Awards 2023.
Around 150 guests gathered for the ceremony underneath the skeleton of the blue whale, ‘Hope’, in the Natural History Museum’s famous Hintze Hall.
The awards shine a spotlight on the UK environmental science at the heart of the responsible management of our planet, and were shortlisted and judged by independent panels of academic, industry, government and public engagement figures.
Professor Peter Liss, Interim Executive Chair of NERC, said:
“The 2023 NERC Impact Awards recognise the remarkable work of our environmental science community.
“The research of our winners, finalists and all this year’s entries are tackling some of the planet’s most pressing issues. These include tracking COVID-19 during the pandemic in our wastewater, informing England’s biodiversity net gain policy and helping shape the global discourse on tackling climate change.
“The inspiring impacts demonstrate the huge benefits that environmental science brings to our society, economy and environment.”
Vice-Chancellor Professor Edmund Burke said, “This is excellent news. Many congratulations to the wastewater surveillance team on winning this prestigious award, which continues to raise the international profile of the University in terms of world leading science with major societal impact.”
Professor Davey Jones added, “We look forward to using the prize money to generate more impact around the project, specifically how we can use the data we produce to inform stakeholders such as recreational users of water and the authorities about water quality and environmental health. We’re also looking forward to sharing our research with the general public through a future exhibition at the Natural History Museum, which is very exciting.
“This is certainly a team award and recognises the continued dedication and support from our lab and field teams throughout the pandemic as well as our collaborators across the UK.”
The award follows the recent announcement that Bangor University’s wastewater team has been awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its public health surveillance work.
