The Society’s Director, Dr Rita Gardner, has been awarded the Scottish Geographical Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) for services to geography.
Dr Gardner was awarded the prestigious Scottish Geographical Medal at a private ceremony in the RSGS’ Perth offices on Friday.
The Scottish Geographical Medal, which was first awarded to H M Stanley in 1890, is presented to those who have shown great commitment and service to geography on an international stage.
Speaking ahead of the medal presentation, Professor Roger Crofts, Chairman of RSGS, said:
“Rita has worked wonders as the Director of the Royal Geographical Society. She has brought the Society into the 21st century through her dedication, determination and clear focus, actively leading its expansion and development. Rita has raised substantial amounts of money to develop the Society’s programmes and to transform its facilities in London into an international centre for geographical interchange and archive conservation. In doing so, she has raised the status and standing of geography in the UK.
“For her outstanding contribution she thoroughly deserves the award of the Scottish Geographical Medal.”
Dr Gardner said: “I am delighted to be receiving the prestigious Scottish Geographical Medal. It’s a great honour that the Royal Scottish Geographical Society has bestowed.
“Geography is a subject I care passionately about. It’s a subject that illuminates the understanding of our world’s societies, economies and environments and their interconnections. As such, it bridges the natural and human sciences. Geography is also the spatial science, concerned with places, scales and location, and it thus finds itself in much demand at the heart of the geospatial science revolution.
“It gives me great pleasure to see geography’s strength in research and education today and its increasing recognition by employers, the public and policy makers; and for the UK to be recognised as a world leader in the discipline. I look forward to further collaboration between the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in the cause of our shared discipline”.