The prestigious four-year appointment was announced today by Ian Pearson, Minister for Science and Innovation.

Prof Watson has been based at UEA’s world-famous School of Environmental Sciences since 1996 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. He is an expert in marine biology, physics and chemistry, atmospheric and planetary sciences and Earth system science.

He joins two other UEA scientists on the NERC council – Prof Trevor Davies and Prof Bob Watson.

“Appointment to NERC council is both an honour and a responsibility,” said Prof Watson. “The council must ensure that public money is used wisely to research how our planet works. We will need that understanding if we are to prosper over the coming decades and centuries.”

NERC funds world-class science, in universities and its own research centres, that increases knowledge and understanding of the natural world. It is tackling major environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity and natural hazards. It receives £400 million a year from the government's science budget, which it uses to provide independent research and training in the environmental sciences.

Council members have corporate responsibility for all NERC's actions and those of its staff. They decide issues such as corporate strategy, key strategic objectives and targets, and major decisions involving the use of financial and other resources.

Ed Wallis, chairman of NERC, said: "The marine science sector has been under-represented on the Council in recent years so Professor Watson's expertise in this area is welcomed."