Royal Geographical Society

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Royal Geographical Society

The Royal Geographical Society is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
learned society

Learned society

A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline or group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies, such as the Poland Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana , the Italian Acc...
founded in 1830 with the name Geographical Society of London for the advancement of geographical sciences, under the patronage of King William IV

William IV of the United Kingdom

William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Kingdom of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death. William, the third son of George III of the United Kingdom and younger brother and successor to George IV of the United Kingdom, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the House of Hanover....
.

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History

Founding members of the Society include Sir John Barrow, Sir John Franklin

John Franklin

Sir John Franklin, Royal Geographical Society was a United Kingdom Royal Navy Officer and Arctic List of explorers who mapped almost two thirds of the northern coastline of North America....
and Francis Beaufort

Francis Beaufort

Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society was a hydrographer and officer in Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland's Royal Navy....
. It has been a key associate and supporter of many famous explorers and expeditions, including those of:

Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
James Kingston Tuckey
James Kingston Tuckey

James Kingston Tuckey was an Ireland United Kingdom explorer and a captain in the Royal Navy.In 1802 he helped expand the British colony of New South Wales in Australia....
David Livingstone
David Livingstone

Doctor David Livingstone was a Scotland Congregational church pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and List of explorers in Central Africa Africa....
William Ogilvie
William Ogilvie

William Ogilvie may refer to:*William Ogilvie , Canadian surveyor*William Ogilvie , tutor to Lord Edward FitzGerald*Will Ogilvie, Canadian painter and war artist...
Scott of the Antarctic
Robert Falcon Scott

Robert Falcon Scott Royal Victorian Order was a British Royal Naval officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13....
Richard Francis Burton
Richard Francis Burton

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton Order of St Michael and St George Royal Geographic Society was an English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguistics, poet, hypnotism, fencing and diplomat....
John Hanning Speke
John Hanning Speke

John Hanning Speke was an officer in the British Indian army, who made three voyages of exploration to Africa and who is most associated with the search for the Nile#The_search_for_the_source_of_the_Nile....
George W. Hayward
George W. Hayward

George W. Hayward is a little known 19th century United Kingdom explorer. Information for all but the final few years of his life is scarce. His exploration exploits and horrific murder in central Asia during ?The Great Game? eventually earned him a degree of fame....
Henry Morton Stanley
Henry Morton Stanley

Sir Henry Morton Stanley , Order of the Bath, born John Rowlands , was a Wales journalist and List of explorers famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone....
Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton Royal Victorian Order Order of British Empire, was an Anglo-Irish explorer who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration....
Sir Edmund Hillary

From the middle of the 19th century until the end of World War I, expeditions sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society were frequently front page news, and the opinions of its president and board members would be avidly sought by journalists and editors. Today the Society is a leading world centre for geographical learning - supporting education, teaching, research and scientific expeditions, as well as promoting public understanding and enjoyment of geography. It is a member of the Science Council

Science Council

The was established by Royal Charter in 2003. The principal activity of The Science Council is the promotion of the advancement and dissemination of knowledge of and education in science pure and applied, for the public benefit....
. The society has merged with the Institute of British Geographers and is properly known as the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). The main offices of the Society are at Lowther Lodge

Lowther Lodge

Lowther Lodge is a house in South Kensington, London, England, immediately south of Hyde Park, London. It was designed by Richard Norman Shaw and built between approximately 1872 and 1875....
in Kensington

Kensington

Kensington is a district of West London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, located west of Charing Cross. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington....
, in London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
.

Governance and past Presidents

Council

The Society is governed by its Board of trustees called the Council, which is chaired by its President. The members of Council and the President are elected from its Fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. Historically, the term fellow was also used to describe a man, particularly by those in the upper social classes....
ship. The council consists of 25 members, 22 of which are elected by Fellows

Fellows

Fellows or Fellowes is a surname and may refer to:People* Thomas Hounsom Butler Fellowes , an officer in the Royal Navy during the Victorian era....
and serve for a three year term. In addition to the elected trustees, there are Honorary members (who include the Duke of Kent

Duke of Kent

Duke of Kent is a title which has been created various times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of George V of the United Kingdom....
as Honorary President and Michael Palin

Michael Palin

Michael Edward Palin, Order of the British Empire is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his Travel documentary....
as an Honorary Vice-President) who sit on the council.

Committees

The society has five specialist committees that it derives advice from

Education Committee
Research Committee
Expedition and Fieldwork Committee
Information Resources Committee
Finance Committee

Selected list of past Presidents

Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich

Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon Privy Council of the United Kingdom , Frederick John Robinson until 1827, The Viscount Goderich 1827–1833, and The Earl of Ripon 1833 onwards, was a United Kingdom statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ....
The Earl of Ripon (1830-1833)
Sir Roderick Murchison
Roderick Murchison

Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet Order of the Bath Fellow of the Royal Society , was an influential United Kingdom geologist who first described and investigated the Silurian system....
(1851-1853)
Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson (1871-1873 and 1874-1876)
Sir Clements Robert Markham (1893-1905)
Sir George Taubman Goldie
George Taubman Goldie

Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie was a Isle of Man administrator who played a major role in the founding of Nigeria. In many ways, his role was similar to that of Cecil Rhodes elsewhere in Africa but he lacked Rhodes' thirst for publicity....
(1905-1908)
Major Leonard Darwin
Leonard Darwin

Major Leonard Darwin , a son of the England naturalist Charles Darwin, was variously a soldier, politician, economist, eugenics and mentor of the statistician and evolutionary biologist Ronald Fisher....
(1905-1911)
Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich
Thomas Holdich

'Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich', KCMG, KCIE, CB was an England geographer and president of the Royal Geographical Society. He is best known as Superintendent of Frontier Surveys in British India and author of numerous books, including The Gates of India, The Countries of the King's Award and Political Frontiers and Boundary...
(1919-1922)
Sir James Wordie
James Wordie

Sir James Mann Wordie, Order of the British Empire was a Scottish polar explorer and geologist.Wordie was born at Partick, Glasgow, in the former county of Lanarkshire in Scotland....
Raymond Priestley
Raymond Priestley

Sir Raymond Edward Priestley was a British geologist and early antarctic explorer....
(1961-1963)
Sir Laurence Dudley Stamp
Laurence Dudley Stamp

Sir Dudley Stamp CBE, DSc, Doctor of letters, LLD, Ekon D, DSc Nat , was professor of geography at Rangoon and London, and one of the internationally best known British geographers of the 20th century....
(1963-1966)
Lord Shackleton (1971-1974)
Sir Crispin Tickell
Crispin Tickell

Sir Crispin Tickell, Order of St Michael and St George, Royal Victorian Order, Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Royal Institute of British Architects, Royal Institution of Great Britain, Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management is a British diplomat, environmentalist, and academic....
(1989-1993)
George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe
George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe

George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Fellow of the Royal Society was a United Kingdom politician and statesman, diplomat and businessman....
(1993-1997)
John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne
John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne

John Roundell Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne Order of the British Empire, Royal Society,Institute of Biology is a United Kingdom peer and businessman....
(1997-2000)

Membership

There are four categories of individual membership:

Ordinary membership

Anyone with an interest in geography is eligible to apply to become a member of the RGS.

Young Geographer

People aged between 14 and 24 currently studying, a recent graduate of geography or a related subject.

Fellowship

Fellowship of the Society is conferred to anyone over the age of 21 who has a deep involvement with geography (through research, publication, profession etc) and/or has been an ordinary member of the society for five previous years. The applicant must be proposed and seconded by existing Fellows and elected by Council. Fellows are granted the use of the post-nominal FRGS.

Postgraduate Fellow of the Society

Is open to anyone who is a postgraduate student in Geography or an allied subject at a United Kingdom university.

Chartered Geographer

Since 2002 the Society has been granted the power to award the status of Chartered Geographer. The status of Chartered Geographer can only be obtained by those who have a degree in geography or related subject and at least 6 years geographical experience, or 15 years geographical work experience for those without a degree. Being awarded the status of Chartered Geographer allows the use of the post-nominal letters C Geog and is evidence of a commitment to continuing professional development and the highest professional standards.

Chartered Geographer (Teacher) is a professional accreditation available to teachers who can demonstrate competence, experience and professionalism in the use of geographical knowledge or skills in and out of the classroom, and who are committed to maintaining their professional standards through ongoing continuing professional development (CPD).

Research groups

The society is not only a learned body but also carries out research in the following research groups.

Research groups
Biogeography Biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance.... Research Group	British Geomorphic Geomorphology Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them. Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look the way they do: to understand landform history and dynamics, and predict future changes through a combination of field observation, physical experiment, and numerical mathematical model.... Research Group
Climate Change Global warming Global warming is the increase in the Instrumental temperature record of the Earth's near-surface air and the oceans since the mid-twentieth century and its projected continuation.... Research Group	Contract Research and Teaching Forum
Developing Areas Research Group	Economic geography Economic geography Economic geography is the study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the Earth. The subject matter investigated is strongly influenced by the researcher's methodological approach.... Research Group
Geographical Information Science Research Group	Geography of Health Health geography Health geography is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of health, disease, and health care.... Research Group
Geography of Lesiure and Tourism Tourism Tourism is travel for recreational or leisure purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from... Research Group	Higher Education Higher education Higher education refers to a level of education that is provided by university, vocational university, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, Institute of technology and other collegiate level institutions, such as Vocational school, trade schools and career colleges, that award academic degrees or professional certifications.... Research Group
Historical Geography Historical geography Historical geography is the study of the Human geography, Physical geography, Fictional geography, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past.... Research Group	History and Philosophy of Geography History of geography This article explores the history of geography.... Research Group
Mountain Mountain A mountain is a landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill.... Research Group	Participatory Geographies Working Group
Planning Planning Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale.... and Environment Natural environment The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all life and non-living things occurring nature on Earth or some region thereof.... Research Group	Political Geography Political geography Political geography is the field of human geography that is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures.... Research Group
Population geography Population geography Population geography is a division of human geography. It is the study of the ways in which spatial variations in the distribution, composition, migration, and growth of populations are related to the nature of places.... Research Group	Postgraduate Forum
The Post-Socialist Geographies Research Group	Quantitative Quantitative A quantitative attribute is one that exists in a range of magnitudes, and can therefore be measurement. Measurements of any particular quantitative property are expressed as a specific quantity, referred to as a Unit of measurement, multiplied by a number.... Methods Research Group
Rural Rural Rural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low populations. Today, 75 percent of the United States' inhabitants live in suburban and urban areas, but cities occupy only 2 percent of the country.... Geography Research Group	Social and Cultural Geography Cultural geography Cultural geography is a sub-field within human geography. Cultural geography is the study of cultural products and norms and their variations across and relations to spaces and places.... Research Group
Space, Sexualities and Queer Working Group	Transport Transport Transport or transportation is the movement of passenger and cargo from one location to another. Transport is performed by various modes of transport, such as aviation, rail transport, road transport, ship transport, cable transport, pipeline transport and space transport.... Geography Research Group
Urban geography Urban geography Urban geography is the study of urban areas. That is the study of areas which have a high concentration of buildings and infrastructure. These are areas where the majority of economic activities are in the secondary sector and tertiary sectors.... Research Group	Women and Geography Research Group

Awards and grants

The society also presents many awards to geographers that have contributed to the advancement of geography.

The most prestigious of these awards are the Gold Medals (Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838). The award is given for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery", and are approved by Queen Elizabeth II. The awards originated as an annual gift of fifty guineas from King William IV, first made in 1831, "to constitute a premium for the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". The Society decided in 1839 to change this monetary award into two gold medals: Founder’s Medal and the Patron’s. The award has been given to notable geographers including David Livingstone

David Livingstone

Doctor David Livingstone was a Scotland Congregational church pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and List of explorers in Central Africa Africa....
(1855), Nain Singh Rawat (1876), Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen

Ferdinand von Richthofen

Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen was a Germany traveller, geographer and scientist....
(1878), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace, Order of Merit, Fellow of the Royal Society was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Natural history, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist....
(1892), and Frederick Courtney Selous (1893) to more recent winners including Professor William Morris Davis

William Morris Davis

William Morris Davis was an United States geographer, geologist, geomorphologist, and meteorologist, often called the "father of American geography"....
(1919), Sir Halford John Mackinder (1945), Professor L. Dudley Stamp

Laurence Dudley Stamp

Sir Dudley Stamp CBE, DSc, Doctor of letters, LLD, Ekon D, DSc Nat , was professor of geography at Rangoon and London, and one of the internationally best known British geographers of the 20th century....
(1949), Professor Richard Chorley

Richard Chorley

Richard John Chorley was a leading figure in the late 20th century for his work in Quantitative revolution, and played an instrumental role in bringing in the use of systems theory to geography....
(1987) and Professor David Harvey

David Harvey

David Harvey is the name of:*David Harvey *David Harvey , geographer and social theorist*David Harvey , American producer*David Harvey , television presenter and executive...
(1995). In 2004 Harish Kapadia

Harish Kapadia

Harish Kapadia is a distinguished Himalayan Mountaineer from India. He has been awarded the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographic Society, UK and the Life Time Achievement Award for Adventure by the President of India and the King Albert Mountain Award presented by The King Albert I Memorial Foundation....
was awarded the Patron's Medal for contributions to geographical discovery and mountaineering in the Himalayas, making him the second Indian to receive the award in its history. In 2005 the Founder's Medal was awarded to Professor Sir Nicholas Shackleton

Nicholas Shackleton

Sir Nicholas John Shackleton Fellow of the Royal Society was a United Kingdom geologist and climatologist who specialised in the Quaternary Period....
for his research in the field of Quaternary

Quaternary

The Quaternary Period is the Geologic Time Scale period after the Neogene Period, spanning 1.805 +/- 0.005 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary includes two geologic epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene epoch ....
Palaeoclimatology and the Patron's Medal was awarded to Professor Jean Malaurie for a lifelong study of the Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is the region around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctica region around the South Pole. The Arctic includes the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Greenland , Russia, the United States , Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland....
and its people. In 1902 they awarded khan Bahadur Sher Jang

Khan Bahadur Sher Jang

Khan Bahadur Sher Jang was born at Dhok Aziz near Chhab, a small village in Attock District, Pakistan. His father, Aziz Khan was a farmer. Khan Bahadur Sher Jang joined Coke's Rifles in 1887....
a Sword of Honour (the Black Memorial) in recognition of his valuable services to geography

In total the society awards 17 medals and awards including Honorary Membership and Fellowships. Some of the other awards given by the Society include:

The Victoria Medal (1902) for "conspicuous merit in research in Geography"
The Murchsion Award (1882) for the "publication judged to contribute most to geographical science in preceding recent years"
The Back Award (1882) for "applied or scientific geographical studies which make an outstanding contribution to the development of national or international public policy"
The Cuthbert Peak Award (1883) for "those advancing geographical knowledge of human impact on the environment through the application of contemporary methods, including those of earth observation and mapping"
The Edward Heath
Edward Heath

Sir Edward Richard George Heath, Order of the Garter, Order of the British Empire , often known as Ted Heath, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975....
Award (1984) for "for geographical research in either Europe or the developing world"

The society also offers 16 grants

Grant (money)

Grants are funds wikt:dispersed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a wikt:recipient, often a non profit entity, educational institution or business....
for various purposes ranging from established researcher grants to expedition and fieldwork teams to photography

Photography

Photography is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving by recording radiation on a sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or an ....
and media grants. The Ralph Brown and the Gilchrist Fieldwork grants are the largest grants awarded by the society each worth £15,000.

External links

containing a huge selection of RGS images

Royal Geographical Society

History

Governance and past Presidents

Council

Committees

Selected list of past Presidents

Membership

Ordinary membership

Young Geographer

Fellowship

Postgraduate Fellow of the Society

Chartered Geographer

Research groups

Awards and grants

See also

Further reading

External links