2024 Awards
Discover the full list of our 2024 medals and awards winners.
This year, our prestigious medals and awards recognise 26 different people or organisations for their outstanding contributions to geographical research, fieldwork and teaching, and public engagement. Find the full list of 2024 medals and awards recipients below.
Royal Medals
His Majesty the King has approved the award of the Royal Medals as follows:
Royal Medal - Founder’s Medal
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Dr Vanessa Lawrence, CB For outstanding contributions to the Society and to the promotion of geography in the UK and internationally
Royal Medal - Patron’s Medal
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Stephen Venables For his lifetime’s contribution to geographical discovery in the high mountains of the world
Council awards
The Society’s Council has made the following awards:
Victoria Medal
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Professor Lily Kong For conspicuous merit in social and cultural geography and in urban research
Busk Medal
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Professor Chris Clark For profound influence on the understanding of glacial systems through the ‘British-Irish Ice Sheet’ reconstruction
Cherry Kearton Medal and Award
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Leon McCarron For dedication to unearthing the importance, beauty and fragility of natural history
Murchison Award
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Professor Stefan Doerr For pioneering research influencing policy and management of environmental risks from wildfires
Back Award
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Professor Peter Hopkins For sustained and outstanding contributions to policy development through research
Professional Geography Award
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Dr Ed Parsons For excellence in the use of geography in professional practice
Geographical Engagement Award
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Professor Ed Hawkins, MBE For excellence in public engagement with climate change through ‘Climate Stripes’
Cuthbert Peek Award
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Professor Peter Atkinson For scientific advances transforming the understanding of geographical data
Gill Memorial Award (two awards)
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Dr Iestyn Woolway For exceptional early career research with a remarkable track record of achievement
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Dr Kean Fan Lim For exceptional early career research with a remarkable track record of achievement
Ordnance Survey Awards (two awards)
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Dr Cyrus Golding For excellence in geography education at secondary level
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Fiona Sheriff For excellence in geography education at secondary level
Taylor and Francis Award
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Professor Daniel Arribas-Bel For excellence in the practice and promotion of teaching in higher education
Ness Award
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Colonel Chris Hadfield For enhancing the wider understanding of our world and exploration in space
Alfred Steers Dissertation Prize
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Kelsey Monteith For the undergraduate geography dissertation judged to be the best in 2023: ‘Time is not our master. I will not bow to time on this fair.’
Area Prize (two prizes)
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Dr Ana Laura Zavala Guillen For her paper ‘Feeling/thinking the archive: Participatory mapping Marronage’
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Manannan Donoghoe For the best article in the journal in 2023 by an early-career researcher – ‘Intimate extraction: Geological matter, extractive afterlives, and the denial of a Black sense of place in Southern Louisiana’
The Sir Ron Cooke Award
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Ella Herbert For the best A Level independent investigation (NEA): ‘To what extent are the key players impacting the development of Cambers sand dunes’
Geographical Award
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The Ulysses Trust For providing outstanding support for individuals and groups through expeditions
Honorary Fellowship
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Dr Sophie Bowlby In recognition of outstanding support for geography
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Steve Brace In recognition of outstanding support for geography and the Society
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Professor David Higgitt In recognition of outstanding support for geography
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Dr Tony Juniper CBE In recognition of outstanding support for conservation
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Carol Lawson In recognition of outstanding support for the Society
