The history of NERI
NERI was established in 1989 to enhance the coherence and consistency within Danish environmental research. This decision was partly in response to an international evaluation of Danish environmental research.
The establishment of NERI involved the amalgamation of five specialised laboratories under the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Marine Pollution Laboratory, Freshwater Laboratory, Air Pollution Laboratory, Analytical-Chemical Laboratory, Centre for Terrestrial Ecology). Additionally, the Genetic Microbiology Laboratory of the National Food Agency was transferred to NERI.
The traces of these laboratories can still be seen in NERI's present day structure as departments of Marine Ecology, Freshwater Ecology, Atmospheric Environment, Environmental Chemistry and Microbiology (Analytical-Chemical Laboratory + Microbiology group) and Terrestrial Ecology, respectively.
Removing these laboratories from the Danish EPA involved the contracting of an arrangement whereby NERI is obligated to provide a broad range of specialist services and perform tasks as an authority representing the Ministry in exchange for an allocation of basic funding (e.g. monitoring and scientific data centre tasks, contributing to international conventions, chemical control and reference tasks, biotechnological tasks).
In conjunction with the transfer of the game management authority from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of the Environment in 1990, the Game Biology Centre was amalgamated with NERI. This decision was made on account of the close technical connection between the game area and the administration of nature. The Game Biology Centre is the core of the present day Department of Wildlife Biology and Biodiversity.
As a direct reponse to societal needs for trans-disclinary research and analyses Department of Policy Analysis was founded in 1990.
The Greenland Environmental Research Institute was transferred to NERI in 1996 as Department of Arctic Environment because of NERI’s cross-cutting expertise pertaining to the environment and the scientific linkage between the Arctic environment and global environmental issues.
As a part of the organisation of responsibilities in the Ministry of the Environment, additional areas - and the basic funds to go with them - have been transferred from the administrative agencies to NERI since 1994 to 2006. This primarily concerns tasks that NERI undertakes as the authority concerned with the monitoring of the environment and nature and with risk assessment.
NERI became part of Aarhus University as of 1 January 2007. The amalgamation was part of the Danish government's plan to integrate sectorial research institute into the Danish universities and to create fewer, but larger universities.
Amalgamation with Aarhus University