No big expeditions, says RGS

Royal Geographical Society votes for research, not odysseys

The Royal Geographical Society is a global institution - in both senses - but it has decided its future lies in investment into targeted research, not the large globetrotting expeditions of the past. In a recent vote, its members decided by majority to apply the RGS to pure research.

The supporters of the motion to restore the large, old-style expeditions included names like Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Pen Hadow and John Blashford-Snell, but fame wasn't enough to convince the society's members. Instead, the RGS continues to focus on investing its time and money in specific research projects.

The huge amount of publicity caused by the vote at the venerable institution does highlight the importance that many of the public feel for such grandstand expeditions, with nearly 40% of members at the vote last week supporting them - a "significant" number, according to the president, Sir Gordon Conway, though in fact only 15% of the entire RGS membership.

WideWorld contacted Rita Gardner, Director of the RGS to ask about the recent vote. She had this to say:

"The Society has only ever supported or organised scientific expeditions - so for example we gave Ernest Shackleton a grant of £1000 towards the total cost of his 1914-1917 expedition of £60,000. Our grant was for the scientific work he planned to do on his expedition. The finding of new knowledge has always been at the heart of what we do - indeed our remit has always been the 'advancement of geographical science'. As knowledge of the world has changed so too has the nature of the questions we ask in order to develop further understanding."

She added: "We continue to support research and scientific expeditions and we deliver as much new knowledge, if not more, than ever before through this work. Since 2005 we have directly supported and funded more than 150 research projects and scientific expeditions to more than 65 countries studying topics relevant to understanding the world today - topics ranging from climate change to desertification, and from migration to the development of cities.

"Where such projects differ from expeditions of the past is that they are more focused on specific issues rather then wider studies of places and environments. Quite a lot of today's studies are in just as remote and challenging places as in the past."