Geographical Fieldwork Grants

About the Award

The Geographical Fieldwork Grant is the Society's longest running grant scheme. Every year, these grants enable UK based, student-led teams (defined as three or more people) to get into the field. Grants between £500 to £3,500 are awarded.

To qualify for a Geographical Fieldwork Grant, the research must involve fieldwork that aims to make a significant contribution to existing geographical knowledge. Multi-disciplinary, interdisciplinary and collaborative projects are encouraged.

Team members can be working together on a joint project or each team member can undertake an individual, independent project (for example undergraduate dissertations or Masters theses) if these are linked together under a coherent research theme (this must be clear in the application). Each team member must be involved in the development of the research, and must take equal responsibility for planning, delivery and reporting.

These grants are primarily intended for undergraduate and Masters students. Projects in which the majority of team members are research active academics (including PhD students) will not be supported.

The Geographical Fieldwork Grants are generously supported by a number of donors which include:

Alexander Awards, Barling Fisher Bequest, the Frederick Soddy Awards, Gough Island Fund, Gumby Award, HR Mill Trust Fund, Marjorie Sweeting Bequest, the Neil Thomas Proto Award, Penruddocke-Park Lander Fund, Peter Smith Award, the Philby Award, Ralph Brown Memorial Fund, Rio Tinto Award, Rod Whitney Bequest, Shara Dillon Award, Stephens Bequest, The Jeremy Willson Charitable Trust and the Violet Cressey-Marcks Fisher Fund.

Deadline: 15 February

Apply now

All prospective grant applicants should read our Advice and Resources pages, which include more information about the grants programme, its conditions, how to apply for a grant and what is expected if your application is successful. Please read this information carefully and send your application, or any enquiries, by email to grants@rgs.org

Two referees are required to provide references by completing the online grant application reference form. One referee must be from a university academic, not a member of the research team, nor directly involved in the planning of the research project and one should be from an appropriate in-country contact. Please see the Application process page for more information.

Your application will be reviewed by a panel of academic experts and teams may be invited to online interview on the basis of this review.

Past recipients

2025 recipients

Chloe Robinson, Anna Sawko (University of Sussex) and Paulina Koppel (University of Azuay) Collaborative Ethnobotany and Visual Anthropology in a Shuar community (Ecuador) Multidisciplinary Evidence in Defence of the Rights of Nature

This project will map the Maikiuant Shuar community’s relationship with Nature in the Ecuadorian Amazon, integrating ethnobotany and visual-anthropology to elevate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in environmental justice. Fieldwork collaborates with local Shuar paraecologists* to map culturally and ecologically significant plants, while participatory visual methods (Photovoice/art workshops) explore Shuar perspectives of harmony with Nature. Findings will contribute to evidence required by Ecuadorian constitutional Rights of Nature law to bolster indigenous conservation efforts and protect their territory against threats from extractive industries. Outcomes include an RGS report, two MSc thesis, a community exhibition, and a multimedia knowledge platform (website/magazine).

 

Henry Wilson, Joe Hopkinson, Alex Biddulph, Jack Clough (Newcastle University) Newcastle University Aoraki/Mount Cook 2025

This expedition aims to research mass-movement hazards and geomorphology in the Mount Cook region of New Zealand. This will be achieved using Emlid-Reach GPS units, Schmidt hammers, lichenometry and sediment logging and coring- all of which will generate beneficial information regarding the topographic and sediment characteristics of the field sites. We expect that our collected data will enable us to make important assumptions regarding our respective projects. With mass-movement hazards becoming increasingly expected in the future due to intense precipitation events, there is significance in understanding the conditions under which they take place, which will later influence mitigation against them, thus lowering fatalities and economic consequences.

 

Philippine Coutau, Eva Livingstone, Jacob Cox, Monica Groth, Abigail Brown (University of Oxford) Seeds of the Tian Shan: Cycling a Century Since Vavilov

2025 marks a century since botanist Nikolai Vavilov theorized crop biodiversity evolved from geographic “centers of origin”, one of which lay in Central Asia. The region has since witnessed the rise of Soviet industrialized agriculture and experiences the pressures of climate change. By cycling through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to film and interview farmers, our expedition aims to document the endurance or extinction of traditional farming practices and sustained landraces—genetically diverse heritage crops distinct from commercial varieties. By sharing data with seed banks and public platforms, we aim to inspire action to safeguard crop diversity and build climate-resilient food systems.

 

Ben Geertsma-Dolton, Joseph Fawcett and Leon Comstive (University of Bristol) An investigation of the hydrological and biogeochemical composition of glacial meltwater from Russell and Leverett glaciers along a proglacial transect, Greenland

This study investigates the impact of slope aspect, elevation and angle on the lower montane rainforest community in Tobago. Data will be collected from 40 10x10 meter plots along north and south facing slopes along the island’s Main Ridge (≈300-500m), analysing species diversity, canopy structure and microhabitat associations. Findings will help enhance ecological forecasting strategies within the Main Ridge Forest Reserve, recognised as one of the world’s oldest established with a conservational purpose; whilst also filling in knowledge gaps regarding tropical island forest ecology.

 

Carmen Benbow, Rowan Dawson, Ruizhe Liu, Lydia Loughran (Newcastle University) Newcastle University Maranhão 2025

Mangroves store carbon, stabilize coasts, and support biodiversity, making them crucial for climate regulation (Nyanga, 2020). They act as natural barriers against erosion (De Silva and Amarasingh, 2023) while providing habitats for diverse species (Spaulding et al., 2010). However, climate change and human activities threaten their stability through pollution, rising salinity, and changing weather patterns (Biswas and Biswas, 2023). Our research in Maranhão, Brazil, explores mangroves' carbon sequestration, biodiversity support, erosion control, and food resource contributions. Understanding these forests' vulnerabilities is key to their conservation, ensuring coastal resilience and protecting ecosystems from anthropogenic and climatic stresses.

 

Alistair Brendon, Edward Beswick, Jakob Timmerman (University of Oxford) Expedition Herzegovina

The expedition’s goal is to unravel the untold story of the hinterland of Herzegovina. Its history and the geography are what makes this area worthy of exploration: depopulated villages with hundreds of abandoned buildings; location just 5 miles from Dubrovnik at its nearest point; new state and internal borders dividing communities; memories of a mountain railway network closed in 1976; new attempts to bolster economic development through cycle trails; and a cave system given UNESCO status in 2024. We want to connect with the people through choral music exchange, and capture their story through interviews and film to produce a documentary.

 

Christian Ciattei and Tesa Blowey (Oxford Brookes University), Hélène Birot (Wildlife Conservation Society) Spatial and behavioural ecology of southern yellow-cheeked crested gibbons (Nomascus gabriellae) at a tourism site in Cambodia

This project will explore how wildlife tourism affects the space use and behaviours of endangered southern yellow-cheeked crested gibbons (Nomascus gabriellae) at Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia. We will also investigate the role of gibbon vocalization and affiliative behaviours in social structure and group cohesion. This will be accomplished through focal animal sampling, GPS tracking, and monitoring tourist groups’ demographics and adherence to responsible tourism practices. Our findings will generate spatial data-driven recommendations for minimizing the impact of tourism on gibbon behaviour while highlighting the value of maintaining their social behaviours for pair bonding.

 

Mo Dallow-Arino, Saptarshi Ganguli, Cristina Hutchison, Darren McLaughlin, Ilona Cockburn, Rosie Keenan, Rohan Hart, Tia Robertson, Harris McCutcheon, Richard Alexander Levai (University of Glasgow Exploration) Ridge Reflections: Topography’s Influence on Main Ridge Forest Stand Structure and Diversity

This study investigates the impact of slope aspect, elevation and angle on the lower montane rainforest community in Tobago. Data will be collected from 40 10x10 meter plots along north and south facing slopes along the island’s Main Ridge (≈300-500m), analysing species diversity, canopy structure and microhabitat associations. Findings will help enhance ecological forecasting strategies within the Main Ridge Forest Reserve, recognised as one of the world’s oldest established with a conservational purpose; whilst also filling in knowledge gaps regarding tropical island forest ecology.

 

Cameron Powell, Molly Gath, Tobias Brake (Durham University) Quantifying the deglacial evolution of actively retreating glaciers on Mýrdalsjökull and Vatnajökull Ice Cap, south Iceland?

Icelandic glaciers are the perfect modern analogues for reconstructing palaeoglaciers and understanding the evolution of landscape during deglaciation. Our research expedition will focus on Sandfellsjökull, an understudied outlet glacier of East Mýrdalsjökull, and Fjallsjökull, south Vatnajökull. Using a landsystems approach, projects will employ geomorphic mapping, sedimentological techniques, and UAV mapping analysis and focus on recently uncovered subglacial landforms, structural glaciological evolution, and rapidly evolving glacifluvial landform assemblages. The overall aim of these projects is to compile an historical time series of Icelandic glacier recession and the related evolution of deglacial landsystems as they pertain to recent climatic change, especially the accelerated warming of the last 30 years.

 

2024 recipients

Zachary Scott-Paul, Samuel Reeves, Charles Wright, Valerie Devereux, Eden Kong (Durham University) Assessing coastal sewage pollution using macroalgae nitrogen isotopes

This interdisciplinary research team of undergraduate students will assess post-COVID sewage nitrogen pollution around Gran Canaria's coastal environment. Fieldwork will involve collecting macroalgae from ~40 sites (n = 600 samples) for nitrogen isotope analysis at Durham University under the supervision of Prof Gröcke. This data will be directly compared to an equivalent sample set that was collected during Covid (2020). This research goal is to compare 2020 from 2024 to determine the impact that Covid and reduced tourists had on sewage delivery to the coast. This project may potentially lead to the modification of environmental policies related to tourism.

 

Samuel Nurney, Holly Edwards-Sloan (University of Sussex) Biogeography, ‘ecological forensics’ and implementation of the ‘Rights of Nature’

To compare effectiveness of spatially-explicit biogeographical databases with field collection methods in protecting high-biodiversity ecosystems under Ecuador's Rights of Nature laws. We explore the role of biogeographical data in defending critical ecosystems against threat, leveraging online species distribution databases and field data to enhance legal protections for biodiversity hotspots. Objectives include collating species/ecological data, conducting field biodiversity surveys to assess avian and amphibian diversity, analysing field-collected and GIS-generated IUCN distributional datasets, and modelling biodiversity loss due to mining activities. Outputs include two MSc theses, RGS report, community report and peer-reviewed journal article, to inform Rights of Nature legislators, policymakers, and the public. 

 

Sebastian Rumfitt, Montague Pierce Jones (University of Oxford), Solange Sabelle (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) Pumas in Patagonia: Investigating the Effects of Ecotourists on Health

We will collect puma scat for the measurement of corticosteroid levels (indicators of reproductive health and stress) and for genetic analyses, marking a first in such research. We will conduct interviews with park rangers, ranchers, lodge managers, and other stakeholders (local indigenous groups) about predator tourism and human-puma relations. By combining our disciplines of Biology and Anthropology we aim to rigorously assess tourist disturbance effects and inform park management decisions if needed. Finally, we hope to use our student-led project, a blend of science and adventure, to inspire the next generation of conservationists.

 

Eleanor Mullier, Abby Lambert, Jane Williamson (University of Bristol) Biogeochemical explorations of the Watson meltwater river in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland

This project will explore whether biogeochemistry and sediment composition changes over the course of a 25km stretch of Watson River (Qinnguata Kuussua), draining Leverett and Russell glaciers, outlets of the Greenland Ice Sheet. This transect follows the river from glacier snout to Sondre Stromfjord. Our measurements will determine the extent of biogeochemical processing from glacier to fjord to understand export from the ice sheet. This is critical for determining how glacier meltwater impacts
ocean processes now, and into the future. Our results will be shared via scientific reports (including our 3rd year dissertations and papers) and blog posts at travelsinglaciology.wordpress.com.

 

Joseph Thomas, Catherine Clarke, Madeleine Graham, Joseph McGrattan, Holly Muntus, Isaac Benfield (Newcastle University) Newcastle University Kangerlussuaq 2024

The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and the Arctic are currently warming at a rate four times faster than the rest of the planet, which is having an unprecedented influence on melt rates and ice loss. Our expedition will investigate the impacts of climate change on Russell Glacier. We will undertake this through 6 research objectives relating to geomorphological, glaciological and biogeographical changes on and around the glacier. This will be conducted through a 30-day expedition. Upon completion, we will produce a series of interim and full reports to funder. Each team member will also produce an individual undergraduate dissertation. 

 

2023 recipients

Jessica Chavez, Coral Humbar, Hannah Cioci, Sophie Bruder (Oxford Brookes University): Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity within community-based forests in Bali

There is an urgent need for a global transition to farming systems that provide social and economic equity whilst protecting ecosystem services on which agriculture depends. This project aims to understand which tree/crop composition of non-timber forest products is optimal for providing ecosystem services, biodiversity and yields. Fifty plots in a community-based forest in the West Bali National Park will be selected to investigate: soil quality, pollination services, invertebrate, mammal, and bird assemblages. These variables will be linked to tree/crop composition and yields. The results will be shared with the local forestry department for optimising yields/ecosystem services in local community-based forests.

Oscar Turner, James Chapman and Agnes Liddell (University of Oxford): Project Amu Darya - An Oral History of the Aral Sea Crisis

Project Amu Darya is an official Oxford University Expedition that will travel along the Zeravshan and Amu Darya rivers (Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). Along these Aral Sea tributaries, we will collect oral histories of the socioecological breakdown of these waterways. This project will be the first to record and relate the upstream voices of the Aral Sea Crisis. Our recorded interviews will form an educational film, made in collaboration with students from Uzbek universities including Westminster International University in Tashkent. Our research will be shared via film festivals and educational platforms in both Uzbekistan and Britain.

Matthew Nicholson, Laura Brierley, Maisie McCormack, Shaun Farrell, Dominic Rees (Newcastle University): The anthropogenic and climatic impacts in Longyearbyen and Longyearbreen

This research programme aims to assess the impacts of rapid climate change in Longyearbyen. This will be achieved by investigating: ablation rates on Longyearbreen by assessing debris cover, short-term variability of sediment flux and water properties of Longyear River, abundance of heavy metals affecting water quality of Longyear River, temporal evolution of meltwater channels, and changes of vegetation with glacier recession, calculating past ice extent of Longyearbreen. 

Raphaela Betz, Patrick Robichaud, Victoria Taylor, William Wallock, Sofi Waterer (University of Oxford): Sustainable Water Management in West Bengal, India

Over two billion people lack adequate access to water. Climate change will only exacerbate this challenge. Communities are adapting by developing novel water management practices. This adaption has been especially pronounced in West Bengal, India. This project plans to travel along the rivers, Dwarakeswar and Teesta, to document evolving water management challenges. The research aims to identify pioneers of adaptation approaches, listen to stories about water, and share them with the world. Strategic partnerships will allow the project access to regional stakeholders and provide a platform to share findings.

Sneha Maria Varghese, Simran Pal Kaur, Hamza Abdullah (LSE): Social Justice is Climate Justice - Theorising from Delhi

This research seeks to develop collectively an intersectional Southern perspective on the question of climate justice. The investigation will be anchored in Delhi, a city facing catastrophic climate-change impacts, and Shaheen Bagh, a Muslim-dominated unauthorised 'colony' (neighbourhood or settlement) in the city. The team consists of three Indian students pursuing MSc Urbanisation and Development at LSE. Individual dissertations investigating livelihood, state-citizen relations and housing-tenure security will together interrogate how unequal power-relations shape climate-change vulnerability. The project will use qualitative methods such as interviews and focus-group discussions to collect novel data and disseminate findings through a group publication and blog articles.

Niamh Hope, Lucy Whittles, Kathryn Davies, James Downing, Harley Geraghty, Harris Green (Newcastle University): Gepatschferner Glacier and River Fagge Expedition

This fieldwork expedition aims to investigate and assess the role of debris cover on ablation of the Gepatschferner glacier, the impacts of pollutants on its glacial melt and the spatial variation of factors influencing the glacial melt. Additionally, vegetation succession on moraines in Gepatschferner’s proglacial area will also be assessed. On the other hand, the fieldwork aims to investigate the relationship between soil/vegetation properties and River Fagge, as well as examine the factors controlling sediment transportation within River Fagge.

 

2022 recipients

Jakub Domanski, Ursula Shaw, Robert Kunzmann, Madeleine Ary Hahne (University of Cambridge); Monika Rasz (Jagiellonian University), Mei Wen: Cambridge University Narsarsuaq Glacial Climate Impact Expedition

The aim of this expedition is to conduct robust, interdisciplinary research of climate change impact on glaciers in Southern Greenland. Our objectives are as follows: 1. Photographically recapture glacial scenes that were shot by the Brathay expedition groups (concluding in 1976). 2. Collect glacial water samples to study microplastic pollutants. 3. Measure air pressure and temperatures for the ASIAQ Greenland Survey. 4. Opportunistically sample carbonatitic rock forms for donation to St. Andrews’ University. The expedition seeks to produce articles for both scientific journals and popular publications.

 

Cassie Dummett, Joe Langley (University College London); Joseph Kanyama Tabu (University of Kisangani): Investigating humans, birds and plants in the Cuvette Centrale peatland forests, DRC

This project will investigate the social, ecological and botanical aspects of the recently discovered central Congo Basin peatlands. In forest near Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of Congo, we will use participatory methods to assess how communities use plants in the peatland forest and whether forest resources are managed sustainably. The community composition and diversity of bird species in different peatland habitats will also be investigated to determine whether logging and other anthropogenic activities affect bird species richness. This is the first study of birds in the Cuvette Centrale peatlands. Our findings will be synergised in a report that will be disseminated to the Society, CongoPeat research network and the DRC government Peatlands Management Unit.

 

Eleanor Leadbeater, Rebecca White, Alex Burton, Sam Eveleigh (Newcastle University): Studying the effects on climate change on the cryosphere in Svalbard

The overall aim of the project is to assess the impact of climate change on Longyearbreen glacier and the surrounding permafrost. Fieldwork methods including GPS mapping, ablation stakes, thermal monitoring and boreholes will be used to ascertain data relating to debris cover, melt rates, and permafrost temperature and thawing. Longyearbyen is the fastest warming town on Earth, so by studying the changes in glaciers and the surrounding permafrost, the impact of climate warming can be understood in this area. 

 

Lucy Friend, Emily Willans, Molly Aspinwall (Newcastle University): Glacier de Miage and Lex Blanche Glacier Expedition

This expedition aims to investigate supraglacial pond pollution and the composition and successional patterns of vegetation at the Glacier de Miage and Lex Blanche Glacier, Italy. To assess pond pollution, we will sample the water, invertebrates, diatoms and sediments, which will then be processed and analysed in Newcastle University’s laboratories. The relationship between vegetation composition and soil conditions will be explored separately at both glaciers through quadrat counts and laboratory analysis of soil samples. 

 

Lucia Hudson, Suzannah Egleston, Aoife Cantwell-Jones (Imperial College London): What’s the buzz about climate change?

Venturing to the Arctic, our project will visit a century-old phenology transect to retrace the steps of past scientists to understand how insect pollinators respond to climate change. We will compare how bumblebee and plant communities have responded to warming to improve our capacity to predict shifting pollination trends under a changing planet and, through studying these ectotherms, provide early indications of climate change (‘canary birds’). The project will produce two masters’ theses, a chapter in a PhD thesis, and deliver academic presentations to environmental and geographical scientists, with manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals.

 

2019 recipients

James English (Newcastle University): Reconstructing past environmental conditions in the Sayan Mountains, Siberia

In collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Geochemistry, Irkutsk, this team of four Physical Geography undergraduate students aims to extract a series of lake sediment cores from four lakes in the Sayan Mountains of southern Siberia. Cores will be processed and preserved invertebrate remains will be analysed to reconstruct palaeotemperatures and past ecosystem structure. Spheroidal carbonaceous particles will be used to assess the extent of anthropogenic pollution in the region. These analyses will form the basis of third year dissertation projects.

Learn more about this project

 

Natalie Lewis (University of Exeter): Project Madagascar, Iaroka Forest

Iaroka lies in the Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor, home to some of the largest areas of remaining rainforest in Madagascar, which, if compromised, could endanger the continuity of vital ecosystems of flora and fauna. This student-led project will carry out biodiversity surveys in a new research area in collaboration with Development and Biodiversity Conservation Action for Madagascar (DBCAM) and local scientists from the University of Antananarivo. The project aims to gain a deeper understanding of the endemic species and the ecosystem services Iaroka provides to the local communities in order to raise awareness of their intrinsic value.

Learn more about this project

 

Anya Gleizer (University of Oxford): Wandering in other worlds, talking with the spirits

This expedition to the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia will be a centennial retracing of the famed 1914 expedition route of one of Oxford’s first female anthropologists, Maria Czaplicka. The team will be approaching the project from the viewpoints of their three disciplines: art, anthropology and cognitive science. The result will be an immersive virtual-reality film about contemporary Evenki (Siberian native) lives and landscape, the immense change this region has undergone since Czaplicka travelled there (the rise of the USSR and perestroika), and about changes in the study of anthropology itself. This film will be exhibited in the Ruskin School of Art and the Pitt Rivers Museum.

 

Arzucan Askin (London School of Economics and Political Science): Mujeres Tarea Vida: gendered experiences of climate change in Cuba

This research project aims to understand why and how women are at the forefront of climate action in Cuba, and examines the socio-political factors that determine Cuban women’s climate change resilience and their contribution to the country’s plan for climate action, known as 'Tarea Vida' (Spanish: 'Life Task'). A mixed-method approach will be taken, consisting of questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and analysis of data provided in reports of Cuban climate change groups and government ministries.

 

Matthew Jones (University of Oxford): Usun Apau Plateau expedition

Usun Apau Retraced is a conservation focused expedition to Sarawak, Malaysia, following in the footsteps of four University of Oxford students back in 1955. The original team made their way up the Plieran river to the remote Usun Apau plateau, where they spent a number of weeks assessing biodiversity. In 2019, a team of three undergraduate students will be journeying to the same region to spend a month studying the flora and fauna of the region. Being 800m above sea level, the area is home to a huge range of endemic species that are found nowhere else in the world. Through collecting baseline ecosystem data the expedition hopes to continue the plateau's conservation.