Tim Butcher awarded the Society's Mungo Park medal

The RSGS was delighted to present Tim Butcher with the Mungo Park medal in recognition of his outstanding contributions to geographical knowledge through exploration and work of a practical nature of benefit to humanity in potentially hazardous physical and social environments.  Butcher received his award from Mike Robinson and Professor Roger Crofts following a fascinating talk about the subject of his new book, The Trigger, at Stirling University's Logie Lecture Theatre on Thursday 22nd May. 

First awarded to Captain Angus Buchanan in 1930 for his crossing of the Sahara, the Mungo Park medal has a rich history of being presented to some of Britain’s most highly regarded journalists, including Michael Buerk, Kate Adie and John Simpson.

On the award, Tim Butcher said "I am enormously proud to have joined the ranks of former medalists, not east Great Uncle Eric Shipton."  Eric Shipton received the Society's Livingstone Medal in 1951.

Tim Butcher

Tim Butcher worked for The Daily Telegraph between 1990 and 2009, holding a series of positions including leader writer, war correspondent, Africa Bureau Chief and Middle East Correspondent.   After being sent to cover Africa in 2000, he decided to recreate H.M. Stanley’s trans-Africa expedition solo. Four years later he travelled through the Democratic Republic of Congo overland in an assortment of vessels including a motorbike and a dugout canoe, an experience documented in his number 1 bestselling book Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart. 

Butcher's second major work, Chasing the Devil: The Search for Africa’s Fighting Spirit, describes a 350 mile trek through Sierra Leone and Liberia following a trail blazed by Graham Greene.  Tim travelled in these countries at difficult times and under constant threat, he even faced a personal death threat from Charles Taylor.

Mungo Park Medal

In his time at The Daily Telegraph, Butcher specialised in covering awkward places at the most difficult times: Kurdistan under attack in 1991 by Saddam Hussein, Sarajevo during the Bosnian War of the 1990s, the Allied attack on Iraq in 2003, Israel's 2006 clash with Hizbollah in southern Lebanon among other crises. His work has helped to shed lights on the real lives of the simple everyday people who live in war zones, and to expose the true stories of conflicts around the world.

His journeys to research his new book, The Trigger: The Assassin that Brought the World to War, took him back to Bosnia, where he had previously covered the War of the 1990s.  He followed in the footsteps of Gavrilo Princip, the young Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Tim Butcher's latest book, The Trigger

Ed Stafford Receives Mungo Park Award

The RSGS was delighted to award Ed Stafford with our Mungo Park Medal after his talk at Perth Concert Hall on Monday 24th March

RSGS President Prof. Iain Stewart and Mungo Park Medal Winner Ed Stafford FRSGS

Ed completed one of the world’s last great adventures when he walked the entire length of the South American river, probably the world’s longest river.
 

Ed Stafford’s journey down the Amazon River was an inspiring example of the sort of feats an individual can achieve when they really put their mind to it. 

Ed used his journey to inspire others by filming and blogging his two and a half year adventure, gaining followers worldwide, and forming the basis for a documentary series and book. He wanted to create an adventure that would excite people about the Amazon and to discover both its wonders and its problems. He had first gained expedition experience with Trekforce Expeditions and carried forward their slogan “adventure with a purpose” as his guiding principle.

However, Ed would insist that Walking the Amazon was a world-first expedition first and foremost, but that he hoped that an ecological message would spread in tandem. He was personally concerned with the issues surrounding deforestation in the Amazon, and hoped that by enthusing people about the Amazon they might start to share his concerns. The big aim of his adventure was to get people so involved with the Amazon that they would start to care about its future.

With this in mind, and in recognition of Ed’s outstanding contributions to geographical knowledge through exploration in potentially hazardous physical environment, RSGS President Professor Iain Stewart presented Ed Stafford with the RSGS's Mungo Park Medal and honorary fellowship of the Society.

The Mungo Park Medal has been awarded since 1930 in recognition of outstanding contributions to geographical knowledge through exploration in potentially hazardous physical and social environments. Previous recipients include Thor Heyerdahl, Freya Stark, Kate Adie and John Simpson.

Nominations are open for RSGS Medals!

The RSGS’s prestigious Medals and Awards allow us to recognise outstanding contributions to geographical exploration and learning.

We are now inviting nominations for the RSGS Medals 2014 from members. The categories are:

◦     Scottish Geographical Medal, the highest accolade, for conspicuous merit and a performance of world-wide repute.

◦     Coppock Research Medal, the highest research-specific award, for an outstanding contribution to geographical knowledge through research and publication.

◦     Livingstone Medal, for outstanding service of a humanitarian nature with a clear geographical dimension.

◦     Mungo Park Medal, for an outstanding contribution to geographical knowledge through exploration or adventure in potentially hazardous physical or social environments.

◦     Shackleton Medal, for leadership and citizenship in a geographical field.

◦     Geddes Environment Medal, for an outstanding contribution to conservation of the built or natural environment and the development of sustainability.

◦     Tivy Education Medal, for exemplary, outstanding and inspirational teaching, educational policy or work in formal and informal educational arenas.

◦     Bartholomew Globe, for excellence in the assembly, delivery or application of geographical information through cartography, GIS and related techniques.

◦     President’s Medal, to recognise achievement and celebrate the impact of geographers’ work on wider society.

◦     Newbigin Prize, for an outstanding contribution to the Society’s Journal or other publication.

 

The Livingstone Medal, awarded for humanitarian service.

To nominate someone for an award, please send details, including a brief explanation (up to 250 words) of why your nominee(s) should be considered, by email to enquiries@rsgs.org, or by post to RSGS HQ in Perth. Nominations should be marked for the attention of the Chief Executive, and should arrive by the end of February 2014.

Chocolate pioneers awarded Shackleton Medal

Craig Sams and Jo Fairley, the couple behind chocolate brand Green & Black’s were awarded with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s (RSGS) Shackleton Medal after giving a talk in Perth Concert Hall on Tuesday 10^th December.

The couple were given the medal in honour of their work launching and bringing to the mainstream fairtrade and organic products in the UK.  They launched Green & Black’s in 1991 and sold it on to Cadbury in 2005 in what has been called by some a ‘reverse take over’ of the world’s largest confectionery company which forced them to consider wider ethical operations.

Green & Black’s is a well-known brand and is celebrated both for its quality and its ethical credentials. The success of the brand has convinced both the consumer public, and business, that Fairtrade and organic products are both viable and desirable.

The company’s Fairtrade chocolate bar Maya Gold, has led to a significant change in fortunes for the Maya people in Belize.  In the early nineties before Maya Gold, only 10 per cent of children in the area where Cacao is produced had access to secondary education. By 2006 this had risen to 70 per cent. Women in the area have also been empowered through their expertise in Cacao production and living conditions have improved considerably.

The Shackleton medal is named after the previous Director of RSGS, Ernest Shackleton, who along with being a leading polar explorer of his age, is still today a popular example of leadership.    This award is for leadership and citizenship in a geographical field.

The award being issued in Perth was fitting, as Perth is Scotland's newest fair trade city, the momentum for which early last year, assisted by RSGS, led to Scotland's certification as a fair trade nation.

They were awarded with the medal and fellowship of the RSGS by RSGS Trustree Lorna Ogilvie.  

Tivy Education Medal awarded to Alan Parkinson

Alan Parkinson was awarded the Tivy Education Medal, together with Fellowship of the RSGS, at the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers conference in Perth in October. The award was given in recognition of his work developing online educational resources for schoolteachers.

In 2001, Alan developed the then-revolutionary Geography Pages website. He went on to become a prolific blogger, better known to some for his online persona ‘GeoBlogs’, and he now runs eight blogs on various aspects of geographical education. He previously worked for The Geographical Association, and is a founder member of the Geography Collective / Explorer HQ, creators of the Mission:Explore books and website. He now works part-time as a geography teacher at King’s Ely.

Delighted to have received the Medal, Alan remarked, “What was equally important to me was to read and hear the comments of others who were there, who appreciated the work that I’ve created and shared over the years.”