Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society

Name

Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society

Legal name

Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society

Website

https://centreforwildfires.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Research Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Support Activities for Forestry (115310), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate Hazard & Catastrophe Modeling (Flood, Wind, Wildfire, Heat, Sea-Level Rise) (EUABALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wildfire Risk Assessment, Prevention & Suppression Services (IMAMAJAG), Integrated Forest Health & Fire Management Planning (AFAMAEAK), Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation (BPAGAGAF), Wildfire Fuel Reduction & Prescribed Burning (AFAMAAAF)

Keywords

• Wildfire research
• Environmental science
• Climate research
• Earth observation
• Academic consortium

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Grant Funding: Primary funding from the Leverhulme Trust (£10 million), a major UK charitable foundation supporting academic research. Additional support from partner universities (Imperial College London, King's College London, University of Reading, Royal Holloway). Funding spans Phase 1 (2019-2024) and Phase 2 (2024-2029). No commercial revenue model as this is an academic research consortium.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society is an interdisciplinary academic research consortium conducting research into the causes, impacts, and mitigation of wildfires. It develops predictive models (such as WHAM and JULES-INFERNO), datasets, and policy guidance, and delivers postgraduate training and public engagement activities across its four partner UK universities.

Product overview

The Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society is a research collaboration between Imperial College London, King's College London, University of Reading, and Royal Holloway, funded by the Leverhulme Trust (2019-2029). The Centre operates as a unified research organization rather than a product company, offering interconnected programs including multi-phase research initiatives (Phase 1 and Phase 2), datasets and data products for fire analysis, academic publications, and event programs (Summer Conference, Research Workshops, Fire in Practice seminars, Spring Symposia, Data Dives). The Centre also runs specialized research programs including the Wildfire and Art initiative, EDI Working Group activities, and High-latitude Fires (HiFACE) research, all focused on transforming scientific and practical understanding of wildfire for prediction and management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Interdisciplinary Wildfire Research Programme Multi-university research programme investigating the causes, impacts, and mitigation of wildfires through coupled natural and social-science studies, open to academic collaborators and stakeholders.
• WHAM (Wildfire Human Agency Model) A bespoke predictive model that couples human agency and decision-making with wildfire dynamics, used by researchers and partner institutions for scenario analysis.
• JULES-INFERNO Fire-Enabled Land Surface Model A fire-enabled land surface model used for simulating wildfire impacts on ecosystems, atmosphere, and land surface processes, developed for use by the research community.
• MSc Wildfire Science Postgraduate taught degree delivering interdisciplinary wildfire science training for graduates and practitioners, hosted by the Centre's partner universities.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered minor, moderate and core.

• CMCC - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate ChangeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2026Collaborating on London Climate Action Week event (June 24, 2026) focused on wildfire predictions and risk management. CMCC is a non-profit international research center producing climate change knowledge.
• Royal InstitutionminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 8 November 2024Partnership for 'For Your Inspiration - Earth Extremes' public science event showcasing Centre research alongside other climate and environmental research groups.
• Generating Genius (Charity)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024Charity partnership engaging students from African and Caribbean backgrounds in virtual wildfire challenge. Part of EDI outreach and widening participation activities.
• The Nature ConservancyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2024Fire practitioner Dr. Mary Huffman from The Nature Conservancy presented on Indigenous fire stewardship. Conservancy leads Indigenous Peoples Burning Network supporting traditional fire cultures.
• ACRoBEAR (Arctic Community Resilience to Boreal Environmental Change)moderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaborative partnership with University of Leeds on Arctic fire research. Co-organizing HiFACE workshop series on high-latitude fires, Arctic climate, environment, and health.
• Arctic VoicesmoderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024University of Leeds-based research group contributing to high-latitude fire workshops and Arctic fire research collaboration. Part of interdisciplinary approach to Arctic fire impacts.
• ARCTIC PASSIONmoderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024International project partnership focused on Arctic research. Collaborating on workshops addressing Arctic fire-climate interactions, community vulnerability, and adaptation.
• CICERO (Center for International Climate Research)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Norwegian climate research institute contributing to high-latitude fire workshops. Marianne Tronstad Lund from CICERO presents on projected changes in boreal fire weather.
• Science Gallery LondonmoderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2023Exhibition venue for 'Stolen Climate' public engagement project combining art and science. Science Gallery produced the exhibition as part of Centre research spotlight.
• Arts CabinetminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2023Arts organization co-developing the 'Stolen Climate' exhibition and public program exploring wildfire through art and First Nations perspectives.
• Centre of Visual Art (University of Melbourne)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2023Academic art research center collaborating on Stolen Climate exhibition and associated public programming. Contributed to international art-science initiative.
• ISAR (International Symposium on Arctic Research)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 August 2022Session conveners for ISAR-7 special session on Arctic fires (2023). Co-convened with ACRoBEAR and Arctic Voices to share high-latitude fire research.
• AXA XL (Insurance)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 June 2022Insurance industry collaboration through Fire in Practice seminar. Dr. Ioana Dima-West and Dr. Alec Vessey presented on quantifying wildfire risk in the insurance industry using catastrophe models.
• PACES (Air Pollution in the Arctic: Climate, Environment and Societies)moderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 March 2022International research initiative addressing Arctic air pollution and climate. Co-organizing workshops on high-latitude fires, climate, environment, and health impacts.
• ESA (European Space Agency)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 November 2021Space4Climate partnership at COP26 Green Zone showcasing satellite Earth observation capabilities for fire monitoring. ESA photos featured in Centre's COP26 coverage.
• Imperial College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Lead institution hosting the main Centre office at the Department of Physics and Department of Life Sciences, South Kensington campus. Director Prof. Colin Prentice and multiple Associate Directors are based here.
• King's College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partner institution contributing Prof. Martin Wooster and hosting Centre offices at Melbourne House. Home to Earth observation and satellite fire research capabilities.
• University of ReadingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partner institution contributing Prof. Sandy Harrison (Associate Director) and hosting Spring Symposium 2025. Strong in climate modeling and fire-climate feedback research.
• Royal Holloway, University of LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partner institution contributing Prof. Jay Mistry (Associate Director) and hosting various workshops. Strong in social science and governance aspects of fire research.
• Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment (Imperial College)moderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Ongoing collaboration on climate change events and outreach. Jointly organized Royal Institution 'For Your Inspiration' events and COP26 participation. Grantham Institute provides support for Centre activities.
• FURNACES (Fire in the Future: interaction with Ecosystems and Society)moderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019German-Austrian collaborative project (2020-2023) bringing fire ecology, social ecology, remote sensing, data science and vegetation modeling expertise. Joint research workshop held to explore synergistic activities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Met Office Hadley Centre: UK national climate modeling center producing global and regional climate projections including fire weather and land-surface modeling. Operates at much larger scale but directly comparable in combining climate modeling with applied wildfire-relevant research.
• Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Biogeochemistry / Fire Emissions): German research institute conducting laboratory, field, and satellite-based research on global fire emissions and atmospheric chemistry. Directly comparable in combining fire emissions measurement with Earth observation and global modeling.
• European Space Agency (ESA) Climate Office: European agency developing satellite Earth observation systems including fire monitoring. Already partnered with the Centre at COP26 via Space4Climate, making it a directly comparable institution advancing satellite-enabled fire science.
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Fire / Earth Science): US agency operating MODIS and VIIRS satellite fire products and global fire modeling. A leading global incumbent in satellite-based fire observation directly comparable to the Centre's Earth observation research capabilities.

Others

• Jupiter Intelligence: Commercial climate risk analytics firm producing wildfire and physical risk models for insurance, infrastructure, and government clients. Indirectly comparable as a downstream commercializer of climate and wildfire science, useful for understanding the applied counterpart to academic wildfire research.

Direct peers

• CICERO Center for International Climate Research: Norwegian climate research institute producing policy-relevant climate science. Already collaborating with the Centre on high-latitude fires workshops (Marianne Tronstad Lund), making it a directly comparable interdisciplinary climate research peer.
• CMCC - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change: Non-profit international research center producing climate change knowledge and models. Listed as an active collaborator on the Centre's London Climate Action Week 2026 wildfire predictions event, making it a directly comparable peer in climate and wildfire research.

Emerging players

• The Nature Conservancy (Global Fire): Global conservation NGO leading the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network and applied fire stewardship. Comparable as an applied, science-informed organization engaging practitioners and Indigenous communities, with which the Centre partners through Fire in Practice seminars.
• Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre: Australian collaborative research center focused on bushfire and natural hazard resilience. Comparable as an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research consortium addressing wildfire prediction, risk, and community impact.
• Northern Arizona University Ecological Restoration Institute: US-based research institute focused on fire ecology, forest restoration, and fire-adapted communities. Comparable as a research-driven institution addressing wildfire science, management, and policy translation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/centrewildfires
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@leverhulmewildfires978
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/leverhulme-centre-for-wildfires-environment-and-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society