Human Environmental Resilience Research Network (HERRN)

The Human Environmental Resilience Research Network (HERRN) unites researchers and practitioners working to understand how environmental stressors influence human health, function and performance across sport, exercise, work and daily life. Our focus is on generating multidisciplinary research that supports individuals, communities and organisations as they adapt to a changing climate.

About HERRN

The growing recognition of the role of sport, exercise and health science in environmental challenges has led to new collaborations across physiology, psychology, medicine, epidemiology and health. At the same time, global climate change presents urgent risks to population health and occupational safety, with impacts that vary by age, health status, socioeconomic background and environmental exposure. Our work addresses these complex, intersecting issues.

HERRN builds on existing strengths within the University of Edinburgh and draws on expertise from colleagues working with populations vulnerable to environmental stressors, as well as those specialising in science communication and public engagement. We collaborate widely across Scotland, the UK and internationally, recognising the global scale of climate-related challenges.

Our network includes experts working in extreme environments, occupational performance, public health, resilience, data science and decision-making in complex settings. Early collaborations already span academic partners, industry, performance sport and climate-focused organisations.

Our vision is to build an effective group of interdisciplinary research that drives meaningful impact. In doing so, we aim to establish the University of Edinburgh as a national and international leader in human environmental resilience.