Institute of Environmental Science and Research
New Zealand research institute
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) was a New Zealand Crown Research Institute (CRI). Its purpose was to deliver scientific and research services to the public health, food safety, security and justice systems, and the environmental sector to improve the safety of, and contribute to the economic, environmental and social well-being of people and communities in New Zealand. The institute was reorganised as the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science in July 2025.
History
The institute was formed in 1992 from the New Zealand Government-owned Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (established in 1926). The Institute of Environmental Science and Research was one of seven science research businesses owned by the New Zealand Government that were, collectively, the largest dedicated providers of science research in New Zealand and some of the most significant commercial users of science and technology.
In late January 2025, Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins announced that the Institute of Environmental Science and Research would be repurposed and restructured as a new Public Research Organisation called the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science (known as PHF Science). This was part of a restructuring of the country's Crown Research Institutes. In May 2025, the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Shane Reti announced that the ESR's current board and chair Sarah Young would transition to lead PHF Science.
Science expertise and services
ESR's science included the following disciplines:
Public health – ESR worked with the Ministry of Health to improve public health. Using ESR reference laboratory information, the Notifiable Diseases Database and information collected from laboratories, ESR scientists collected and analysed data on a wide range of diseases present in New Zealand.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1665158. VIAF identifies the subject as 167978333. The Library of Congress control number is no99034733. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2025, 1992 and 1926.
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This entry incorporates text from “Institute of Environmental Science and Research” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.