We reflect on a brilliant night with Doug Allan at Perth Concert Hall and our newest RSGS Honorary Fellows and Medallists. We share the new Memorable Maps blog by the RSGS Collections Team and details of our upcoming events including Discovering the Endurance,An Interview with Lewis Pugh FRSGS and Meet the Experts.
Discovering the Endurance Shackleton's Ship Beneath the Ice Perth Concert Hall
Tuesday 28th March at 7:30PM
On 28th March, RSGS is hosting a special event at Perth Concert Hall with the team from the Endurance22 Expedition, which discovered Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance after it had not been seen since it was crushed by the ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915.
The Endurance22 Expedition brought together world-leading marine archaeologists, engineers, technicians, and sea-ice scientists on South African icebreaker SA Agulhas II, one of the largest and most modern polar research vessels in the world. Endurance was discovered in the search radius defined by the search team before they disembarked from Cape Town.
We’ll hear first-hand from Expedition Leader Dr John Shears, Subsea Manager Nico Vincent, and Documentary Director Natalie Hewit as they recount their ground-breaking discovery and their journey 3,008 metres beneath the ice to video and photograph the legendary ship.
An Interview with Lewis Pugh FRSGS Tuesday 21st February- Zoom Online
Described as ‘the Sir Edmund Hillary of swimming’, RSGS Mungo Park Medallist Lewis Pugh has pioneered swims in the world’s coldest and most vulnerable climates, tying his passion for swimming with his advocacy for human rights and environmentalism as UN Patron of the Oceans. Clad in nothing but Speedos, goggles and a swimming cap, he has swum across a glacial lake on Mount Everest, was the first person to swim across the North Pole, and undertook a multi-day swim in the Polar Regions, across the Ilulissat Icefjord, to awaken people to the threat of melting sea ice. Join us on Tuesday 21st February through Zoom for an interview with Lewis Pugh and live Q&A!
This month for our Meet the Experts session, we will be joined by Dr Deborah Long and Clare Hamilton, where we'll discuss the Convention on Biological Diversity’s recent COP15. Clare (who was in attendance in Montreal) will reflect on what was achieved, what the challenges are, and what happens next, while Deborah will focus on what this means for Scotland and the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.
Over 500 people came out to hear Doug Allan speak at Perth Concert Hall in December, as he reflected on successes and setbacks from 40 years of natural history film-making. Sharing some incredible stories and images from documentaries such as Planet Earth and Ocean Giants, the night was truly one to remember. The talk also saw some other familiar faces as RSGS took the opportunity to award RSGS Honorary Fellowship to Dougie Vipond and David Connor, and the prestigious Scottish Geographical Medal to Professor Iain Stewart, who recently stepped down as RSGS President after 10 years in role. Read more in our blog.
Our Recent Fellows
We were delighted to present RSGS Honorary Fellowship to a number of deserving individuals over the last few months:
The Farming for 1.5 team (top left); Nigel Miller, Pete Ritchie and Andrew and Seonag Barbour, for their outstanding work towards promoting sustainable farming in Scotland and for their individual efforts towards rebuilding declining biodiversity.
Margaret Paterson (top right) for her long-term, consistent positive contributions and dedication to the RSGS head office team. First starting as a Fair Maid’s House volunteer 12 years ago, Margaret soon started helping in the office, where she has supported staff.
Lorna Ogilvie (bottom left) in thanks for her years of volunteering for the charity. Starting as an office volunteer at RSGS HQ in Perth and as a Member of the RSGS Perth Group, Lorna was later elected as a Trustee and member of RSGS Board, before serving as Chair of the Local Groups Committee, in which role she has brought huge energy, discipline and vigour.
Finally, Gillian & Vimal Khosla and Mary-Ann Smyth (bottom right), for their work with The Crichton Carbon Centre, creating a hub of expertise in climate change awareness, which gradually developed into a centre of expertise in peatland restoration, with an international reputation.
Memorable Maps
Included among the RSGS collections are thousands of fascinating maps. The expert volunteers on our Collections Team are keen to share stories and details of them more widely, and so we are delighted to have launched a ‘Memorable Maps’ series of monthly blogs, available at www.rsgs.org/Blogs/view-point. The first two blogs featured are:
