Projects supported

In 2011 the RGS-IBG grants programme supported 90 projects, with senior researchers, students, teachers and independent travellers all pushing the boundaries of geographical knowledge in interesting and innovative ways.

Projects supported in 2011

In January 2011, our first grants of the year were awarded to two exciting and challenging projects. Joint winners of the 2011 Neville Shulman Challenge Award were Horatio Clare for a project investigating the fate of the Slender-billed Curlew in the context of the Cold War and the management of water resources, and Tanzin Norbu and Paul Howard who will be travelling up the frozen Chadar gorge to the remote Himalayan kingdom of Zanskar with the aim of setting up an educational radio network for the children of the region. February 2011 saw a variety of grants awarded that exemplify the breadth of the Society's grants programme. The 11th Journey of a Lifetime Award, run in conjunction with the BBC, was awarded to Jane Labous who is travelling to Mali to talk to the men and boys who brave the dangerous currents and crocodiles of the River Niger to dig sand to fuel the country's building boom. Danielle Gent, a PhD researcher from Loughborough University, received the Geographical Club Award for fieldwork in Nicaragua investigating energy poverty and potential for domestic renewable power generation. Closer to home, four exciting projects in UK schools received Innovative Geography Teaching Grants.
The Society's senior research grants and Geographical Fieldwork Grants were awarded in March 2011. Our senior research grants are awarded to leading academic researchers to enable them to carry out cutting-edge field projects. Doctors Stephanie Mills and Tim Barrows have been awarded the Society's Peter Fleming Award to travel to South Africa to assess the terrestrial impact of changes in the Agulhas current and test how variations in ocean circulation affect atmospheric circulation and ice age climates. Thesiger Oman International Research Fellowships were awarded to two groups from Oxford University; the first, led by Dr Troy Sternberg and Prof. Dave Thomas will examine the impact of natural hazards on societies in the Gobi Desert while the second, led by Dr Richard Walker, looks to determine the history of the environmental changes that have occurred in the desert basins of Iran over the last 10,000 years, and the effect that these changes have had on the people living in and around them.
A team of researchers from the Biosphere Foundation and the College of Charleston led by Dr Philip Dustan were awarded the Ralph Brown Expedition Award for a project exploring the relationship between habitat destruction and fish biomass in a coral reef off Bali utilising Digital Reef Rugosity. Twenty four teams have been supported through our Geographical Fieldwork Grants this year, with fieldwork being carried out this summer in a wide variety of locations, from Iceland to Uganda and New Zealand. The awarding of Society grants continued apace in April 2011, the focus being on early career academics and postgraduate students. Our Small Research Grants, which help researchers establishing themselves in their field, carry out field or desk-based research were awarded to seven academics from across the geographical spectrum working on projects reconstructing a historical volcanic eruption, examining environmental volunteering and investigating crime reduction policy. Fourteen postgraduates and one undergraduate were supported with the Society's Postgraduate Research Awards; Hong Kong Research Grant, Monica Cole Research Grant, Henrietta Hutton Research Grant and Slawson Awards. Congratulations to all recipients on what was a particularly competitive year for postgraduate applicants.
June 2011 saw the deadline for round two of the Geographical Fieldwork Grants, and marked the end of the 2011 grants programme. There were six successful projects funded, covering a variety of topics, including late quaternary volcanism in southern Patagonia, and the conservation of the Pygmy Sloth in Panama, through the collection of baseline data on the species. All Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) supported projects in 2011 (PDF). The 2012 grants programme began on 23 September 2011, with deadlines for the Journey of a Lifetime Award and Neville Shulman Challenge Award.