NERC Council member
Professor Dan Parsons is a member of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Council.
Dan is an internationally recognised geoscientist whose research sits at the interface of climate change, sustainability, offshore renewable energy and earth system science. His work focuses on fluvial, estuarine, coastal and deep marine environments, with particular expertise in:
- sediment transport
- environmental change
- flood risk
- the impacts of human activity on natural systems
He is also recognised for his work on environmental-scale modelling and innovative environmental measurement technologies.
Dan is presently Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Professor in Geosciences at Loughborough University, where he leads the university’s research and innovation strategy and portfolio. Before joining Loughborough in 2022, he was Director of the Energy and Environment Institute at the University of Hull, having previously served as Associate Dean for Research and Enterprise.
He has led or contributed to major research and innovation programmes in:
- flood risk
- offshore wind
- environmental monitoring
- delta resilience
- regional innovation and commercialisation ecosystems
He has also held several national and international leadership roles. These include:
- working with former Deputy Prime Minister, Lord John Prescott, on climate policy from COP24 to COP26, focusing on estuarial clean growth corridors
- serving as a non-executive board member of the Living with Water Partnership
The partnership helped develop the City Water Resilience Framework, part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities programme.
Dan has supported NERC in several roles over the past 15 years, including:
- NERC Science Committee member
- Panel A Chair
- Peer Review College member
He was also a member of the Executive Council of the European Geosciences Union as Division President for two terms.
Last updated: 1 April 2026