We are a community that shares a passion for people, places and the planet. With the support of more than 2,500 Members and c120 volunteers, we are a small, flexible organisation, striving to promote greater geographical understanding.

Staff

Day-to-day delivery of our work programme is undertaken by a team of five permanent staff, all based at the HQ in Perth.

Chief Executive Dr Mike Robinson OBE

Mike has been Chief Executive since 2008, driving the charity’s modern purpose and reach, upholding the value of good education and science and championing geography and geographers in Scottish and global society. Through this role – and over the course of the last 30 years – he has helped Scotland become a leader in sustainability and climate change policy through building support for joined-up, collaborative action.

For example, in 2006 he established Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS), which became the largest coalition ever formed in Scotland, which was so instrumental in delivering the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, the Scottish Climate Justice Fund,  Loss & Damage commitments and the 2019 Emissions Reduction Targets Act. He acts as an advisor to Government, business and public agencies, & has been a trustee on a wide range of boards and grant awarding bodies, mostly in the spheres of education, climate, agriculture and transport.  He has hosted a dozen Climate Emergency Summits to identify suitable responses to the emergency, and to inform government thinking; lead the development of a Climate Solutions qualification for business leaders which has had significant uptake globally, and has convened leaders of faith and science communities and hosted world leaders on climate and other issues. 

He is an Honorary Fellow of Scottish Environment Link and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS), the RSA and the RSE and has won a number of awards for his contribution to climate change, including the 2001 Best Renewable Energy Initiative, the 2009 Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award, and the 2017 Bernier Medal of the RCGS.  In 2022 Mike was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Stirling for dedicating his life to campaigning for the environment, in 2024 awarded an OBE for his services to climate change education and in 2025 made a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 

Deputy Chief Executive	Clare Hamilton
Chief Executive's PA & Events Officer	Katrina Strachan
Communications Officer	Holly McNair
Membership Officer	Jo Donachie

Trustees

Our overall strategy is guided by a Board of Trustees – volunteers who bring their experience and expertise to help the Society. The majority of Trustees are elected by our Members; some Trustees represent the volunteer Committees which have responsibility for certain areas of work; the Geographer Royal for Scotland (appointed by Her Majesty The Queen to a position we helped to reinstate in 2015, after it had been in abeyance for 118 years) is an ex officio Trustee.

Chair	Professor John Briggs FRSGS
Vice-Chair	Professor Kenneth Muir FRSGS
Treasurer	Gavin Grant
Collections Committee Chair	Margaret Wilkes FRSGS
Local Groups Committee Chair	Lorna Ogilvie FRSGS
Geographer Royal for Scotland	Professor Jo Sharp FRSGS
Other Elected Members	David Henry
	David Howe
	Meredith McDonald
	Professor Alan Wilson

Honorary Post-Holders

RSGS has a formal network of honorary post-holders in addition to the Geographer Royal for Scotland. We benefit from Royal Patronage, from the support of a dedicated President and Vice-Presidents, and from the inspirational contributions of our Explorers-in-Residence and Writer-in-Residence. We also have an extensive network of Medallists and Honorary Fellows whom the RSGS has recognised for their outstanding contributions to geography.

Patron	His Majesty The King
President	Professor Dame Anne Glover FRSGS
Vice-Presidents	HRH The Princess Royal
	The Duke of Buccleuch
	Erica Caldwell FRSGS
	Dr Vanessa Collingridge FRSGS
	Professor Roger Crofts FRSGS
	Sir David Hempleman-Adams FRSGS
	Baron Nickson
	Dr Frederik Paulsen
	Professor John Rowan
	Professor Iain Stewart FRSGS
	Professor David Sugden FRSGS
Explorers-in-Residence	Craig Mathieson FRSGS
	Luke & Hazel Robertson
	Karen Darke FRSGS
Writer-in-Residence	Jo Woolf FRSGS