Professor Michael Depledge is to become the first chief scientific advisor at the Environment Agency for England and Wales
The Environment Agency has appointed Professor Michael Depledge to be its first chief scientific advisor (CSA), signalling its determination to ensure that its regulatory policies and operational activities are based upon robust scientific evidence and fit-for-purpose technologies.
As chief scientific adviser, Professor Depledge will be employed by the agency for three days per week, providing the chief executive, directors and senior managers throughout the organisation with advice on all scientific matters relating to the agency's work.
The role of the chief scientific adviser will also be to liaise closely with other government scientific advisors, the research councils, the European Environment Agency and the European Commission to help develop the future environmental science research agenda.
Professor Depledge has served as the Environment Agency's head of science for the past three years, managing the 180 staff of the agency's science group and with responsibility for delivering the science programme.
Professor Depledge said: "I am delighted with this new opportunity to raise the profile of science within the Environment Agency.
"As head of science I was involved in the management of the staff of the agency's science group as well as delivering the science programme.
"This left little time for keeping up with new advances in research or being an advocate for the use of new scientific knowledge.
"As chief scientific advisor I will be able to keep abreast of the latest scientific developments through our extensive network of contacts in the UK, Europe and the international scientific community.
"I hope to identify new science and influence the environmental research agenda to meet the needs of the Environment Agency".
In addition to his new appointment at the Environment Agency, Professor Depledge is to work for the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, where he will be part of its strategic development team.
He has also been appointed an honorary fellow at the James Martin Institute, Oxford University, where he will carry out his own research programme.
The Environment Agency for England and Wales is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), set up under the Environment Act 1995, to take an integrated approach to environmental protection and enhancement in England and Wales.
The Agency has major responsibilities for controlling industrial pollution and wastes management, regulation of the water environment, and for protection against flooding from rivers and the sea.
The Environment Agency's primary aim is to protect and improve the environment and make a contribution towards the delivery of sustainable development through the integrated management of air, land and water.
