Professor Bridget Emmett

Bridget is Head of Soils and Land Use at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology with responsibility for over 80 staff and their PhD students (> 40). 
 

She has expertise in: the impact of land management on natural capital and ecosystem services; drivers of change in soil structure, function and soil health; impacts of air pollution and climate change; and new knowledge and modelling systems to support policy development. Her primary research has included exploration of the nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle, vegetation composition, water quality and greenhouse gas emissions and their integration at the ecosystem level.

Current research is often as the PI/lead for projects involving a large number of partners to improve integration across different disciplines and sectors from catchment/landscape to national scale to improve the evidence base and support national policy development and outcome reporting in the areas of e.g. soil health, ecosystem services, agri-environment schemes and natural capital. Her research teams are responsible for two large national-scale integrated monitoring and modelling programmes – Countryside Survey (GB scale https://countrysidesurvey.org.uk/) and ERAMMP (Wales https://erammp.wales/en). Income generation has come from a wide range of funders including NERC, BBSRC, EPSRC, DEFRA, EU and Welsh Government.  

She is a member of a wide range of national and international committees and science advisory panels. Past activities have included: acting as the Specialist Adviser for the UK Parliamentary Inquiry into Soil Health in 2016; Member of the EU Mission Board on Soil Health and Food. She also recently served as Chair of the UKRI NERC Soil Security Programme Advisory Board and as a member of the UKRI NERC Strategic Programme Advisory Group.