JOBNAME: No Job Name PAGE: 1 SESS: 16 OUTPUT: Thu Jun 27 17:14:51 2013 SUM: B89734DF /v2503/blackwell/journals/geoj_v0_i0/geoj_12049 Geographical connections: Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Medals and Awards ceremony 2013 JUDITH REES, MICHAEL PALIN, KEITH RICHARDS, KELVYN JONES, PAUL LONGLEY AND SUSAN PAGE Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR E-mail: director@rgs.org The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)’s annual Medals and Awards recognise achievements in researching, communicating and teaching a wide range of geographical knowledge. The speeches and citations are a record of the ceremony of 2013. With comments by Michael Palin, and Professors Keith Richards, Kelvyn Jones, Paul Longley and Susan Page, the speeches encompass travel, fluvial geomorphology, quantitative research, geographic information science and tropical peatland conservation. KEY WORDS: geography, research methodology, teaching and learning, geographical knowledge, fieldwork President’s introduction J udith Rees: I am delighted to welcome you all here this evening to the Society’s Medals and Awards presentations. When Michael Palin took over as President, he broke with tradition by separating the Society’s AGM from these presentations and he hoped that this would become a template for future occa- sions. During my Presidency it certainly will be. The AGM is very much a business meeting dealing with the accounts and the annual review. This past year’s review was in itself a cause of some celebration as it showed that the Society had another successful year despite the increasingly difficult external environ- ment. For those who missed the AGM, copies of the 2012 Review are available online (www.rgs.org/ AnnualReview). But it is entirely appropriate that we separate business from the celebration of the award winners and their contribution to geographical research, teaching, public understanding and scien- tific exploration. It is an enormous pleasure for me to preside over this, my first Medals and Awards ceremony. A pleasure slightly tinged by horror when I realised that it was well over 30 years ago that I sat in this theatre waiting to receive my own award – the Gill Memorial. Never for a moment did I think that I would one day be presiding over the event. This year we will again be breaking somewhat with tradition by presenting the awards in three groups. I will first present the four medal winners. In the second section, I will hand over to Professor Michael Brad- shaw, who will present the scholarly Awards of the Society. Michael has been an admirable Vice Presi- dent for Research and Higher Education and these presentations will be his last official act in this role as he completes his term today. The third group of pres- entations are the awards celebrating education and work to promote the wider public understanding of geography. These will be presented by Peter Smith, Vice President for Education, who will be joined by Dr Vanessa Lawrence, Director General of the Ordnance Survey to present the Schools awards. The last award will be presented to Professor Kelvyn Jones, who is the recipient of the Murchison Award and he will then respond on behalf of all the Award winners. Her Majesty the Queen has approved the award of our two highest honours – the two Gold Medals of equal standing. This year the Founder’s Medal is awarded to Professor Keith Richards and the Patron’s Medal to Michael Palin. Founder’s Medal First the Founder’s Medal: Professor Keith Richards is recognised for the highest level of academic scholar- ship, the breadth and impact of his work, and for his commitment and service to the discipline. A leading physical geographer, Keith has brought new insights to the understanding of rivers – their form and processes – through the integration of field- work, numerical modelling, experimental methods Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited Journal Code: GEOJ Proofreader: Mony Article No: GEOJ12049 Delivery date: 28 Jun 2013 Page Extent: 8 The Geographical Journal, 2013, doi: 10.1111/geoj.12049 The Geographical Journal, 2013 © 2013 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)