The Royal Geographical Society of Queensland Ltd upcoming events

Geography Writing Competition (Wednesday, April 01, 2026)

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Geography Writing Competition

This is your opportunity to write a short story using imagination and creativity, and with a wide interpretation of the theme – Changing Environments in Queensland.

Opening date: 1 April 2026
Closing Date: 1 June 2026

Entrance fee: $10.00

This competition is open to all writers, nationally and internationally, at any stage of their writing career.

Prizes:

First Place - $300 + 1-year RGSQ membership
Second Place - $150 + 1-year RGSQ membership
Third Place - 1-year Queensland Writers Centre membership + 1-year RGSQ membership

Length: Short story up to 500 words

Download the Competition Terms and Conditions.

Download the GWC Registration Instructions for further details about the registration process.

Download the Competition Flyer if you want to publicise the competition.

Topographic Anomalies - Impact Craters at Mt Moffatt? (Tuesday, May 05, 2026)

Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Map Group Presentation

Presenter: Neil Simson, RGSQ Member

Neil is a former Town Planner, now retired and has over 50 years orienteering experience. He has lived and breathed maps for most of his life. He can spot topographic anomalies very quickly and use maps to navigate in complex terrain. Terrain that is different also means that the formation process has changed. Sometimes that is due to changes in rock types, sometimes fractures and sometimes something external.

His research is an investigation into the ring structures at the Mt Moffatt Section of Carnarvon National Park to determine which are likely to be impact structures. The initial desktop analysis used existing mapping resources to identify locations for investigation by applying geomorphological principles to identify anomalous features. These have then been inspected in the field by looking for features consistent with an impact origin. This has resulted in the identification of a high probability impact site where specimen collection and analysis is required.

Coordinator: Len Lowry

Photographs and videos may be taken during RGSQ events for use in promotional materials including, but not limited to, the RGSQ website, social media channels, newsletters and other publications. By attending an RGSQ event, you consent to the use of your likeness for these purposes, unless you inform the event organizer or photographer otherwise.

Thomson Medal Presentation and Thomson Oration: Changes in Australia’s wet tropics over the last 200,000 years: key contributions of the pollen record from Lynch’s Crater to the history and controversies (Tuesday, May 05, 2026)

Tue, 05 May 2026 09:30:00 GMT

Thomson Oration 2026

We are pleased to announce that the 2026 J P Thomson Medal will be awarded to Emeritus Professor Peter Kershaw. The J P Thomson Medal is the most prestigious award given by The Royal Geographical Society of Queensland. It was established in 1900 to honour Dr James Park Thomson, the Society’s founder. The award recognises Peter's high qualities of scholarship and his contribution to the discipline of geography.

Following the medal presentation, Peter will deliver the Thomson Oration - Changes in Australia’s wet tropics over the last 200,000 years: key contributions of the pollen record from Lynch’s Crater to the history and controversies

The origin of modern pollen analysis, focused on the reconstruction and interpretation of past vegetation from pollen and associated micro-plant remains preserved mainly in swamp and lake sediments, was initiated in NW Europe where numerous swamps and lakes resulting from glacial and periglacial processes were ideal for recording the subsequent history of landscape development, climate conditions and human activity. The analysis of one of these sites for production of a minor thesis in northern England was my introduction to the research area that was continued within the Australasian/ Southeast Asian region with a project on the Wet Tropics of NE Queensland in which I am still involved, to some extent, almost 60 years later.

The British study, although providing very valuable background and a career path, was limited in what it could provide to a project that extended way beyond the last glacial period and included one site, Lynch’s Crater, that revealed a continuous record through some 2 glacial-interglacial cycles but of greatest interest has been the cause of the decline of a drier rainforest around 40,000 years ago that does not appear to relate to a time of significant climate change. The postulation of Aboriginal burning rather than natural climate change as the cause of this vegetation change received some support from the intriguing idea of ‘firestick farming” in northern Australia and by similarly and remarkably old dates for human skeletons from Lake Mungo. However, debate continues and this presentation will conclude with an assessment of most recent ideas or controversies on the extent, causation, and degree of validity of the “Lynch’s Crater” 40ka event in Australia involving patterns and timing of human migration, megafaunal extinction and a geomagnetic reversal.

Brief Biography

Peter Kershaw was appointed Emeritus Professor in the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment after working for nearly 40 years at Monash as a Lecturer, Reader and Professor, mainly in The School of Geography and Environmental Science. His research, and that of his research students and post-doctoral fellows, has focused on the reconstruction of past natural and human-modified landscapes in the Australasian-SE Asian region, largely through the analysis of fossil pollen but with a significant palaeolimnological component, and applications to the understanding of present-day environments and predictions of future environmental change.

Qualifications

PhD Vegetation History, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1973
MSc Ecology, University of Durham, UK, 1967
BSc Geography, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth 1966.
University appointments
Professor Emeritus, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, 2014-
Professor Emeritus, School of Geography and Environmental Science, 2010-2014
Professor of Physical Geography 1994-2010
Director, Centre for Palynology and Palaeoecology, 1990-2014
Reader in Geography and Environmental Science, 1990-1994
Senior Lecturer in Geography, 1980-89
Lecturer in Geography, 1973-1978
Research Assistant, Dept. of Geography, subsequently Dept. of Biogeography and Geomorphology, Australian National University. November 1967-April 1970

Notable other positions

Editor-in-Chief, Elsevier Journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2005-2013 and periods as editorial board member of 3 other journals.
President. Australasian Association of Palynology and Palaeobotany, 1988-1992
Secretary then Vice President, International Quaternary Association, 2003-2011.
Life Member, International Quaternary Association - from 2011.
Life Member, Australasian Quaternary Association - from 2014.
Member, Scientific Steering Committee of IGBP (International Geological Biological Program) -Pages (Past Global Changes), 2004-2009, and Fellow from 2024

Please note: If you registered to attend the lecture via Zoom, the meeting link will be emailed to you closer to the lecture date. This lecture may be recorded. If you have any questions, please email us at info@rgsq.org.au.

FLYING-FOXES – AUSTRALIA’S ENDURANCE CHAMPIONS (Tuesday, May 12, 2026)

Tue, 12 May 2026 09:30:00 GMT

Geography Matters

Australia may not have vast herds of land‑based herbivores tracking across the continent, but our night skies tell a different story. Each evening, several species of flying‑fox (Pteropus spp.) take to the air, travelling long distances while pollinating native vegetation and dispersing seeds across the landscape. As they work the night shift, flying‑foxes continue to deliver their critical ecological services while navigating changing landscapes and existing and emerging threats.

Join ecologists Jess Gorring and Carissa Gill as this Geography Matters explores the long‑range movements and roost distribution of three flying‑fox species found across eastern Australia, highlighting how their mobility underpins both their resilience and their vulnerability.

Speakers

Jess Gorring, Wild Solutions Ecology, is the Founder and Principal Ecologist at Wild Solutions Ecology, a South-east Qld based ecological consultancy. She is also an EIANZ Certified Environmental Practitioner with over 17 years of professional ecological experience across multiple bioregions within Queensland.

Jess specialises in all aspects of fauna ecology and has a particular interest in fauna mitigation measures and conflict species management. Jess has been working with flying-foxes for close to a decade and has management experience in both regional and metropolitan local government areas. In 2024, Jess was awarded the Australasian Wildlife Management Society Practical Management Award for the successful delivery and overall outcome of a flying fox conflict mitigation project within the Moreton Bay region.

Carissa Gill is an Ecologist with 10 years’ experience in conservation, monitoring and assessments, research, and environmental management in Far North and South-east Queensland. Carissa’s experience includes threatened species monitoring, wildlife management, land rehabilitation and project development and delivery. She specialises in terrestrial ecology and has a particular soft spot for bats (micro and mega), platypus, and snakes.

Please post your questions on notice to:

Email questionsonnotice@gmail.com

This is an online only event

Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Time: 7:30 – 8:30 pm AEST

Delivery: ZOOM. RGSQ will be managing the ZOOM meeting

MC for the event: Gavin Kennedy

Cost: $0.00 Members

$5.00 Non-Members

Free Students

This event may be recorded and made publicly available via the Society's website and social media channels afterwards. If you have any questions, please email us at info@rgsq.org.au.

Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens – African plant safari (Wednesday, July 15, 2026)

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 23:30:00 GMT

RGSQ Traveller

Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens – African plant safari

9.30-10.30 Introductory presentation and BYO morning tea
10.30am - 12.30 pm guided walk.

Join us for an “African Plant Safari” at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha, one of the best collections of African plants in Australia. The walk will be initially downhill from the lookout, zigzag through the African zone, proceed via the Tropical Dome and finish in the Arid Zone and Cactus House. The visit will mostly be devoted to plants from southern Africa, together with a few species from Namibia, East & West Africa, the horn of Africa, Egypt and one offshore island, depending on time constraints. The visit will be guided by RGSQ member Charles Naylor, a trained volunteer guide at the Gardens, who has been leading this walk since 2022, based on his experiences while a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe in 1983-85 and a member of the Tree Society of Zimbabwe.

$5.00 members; $15.00 non-members
Max 20 persons

Meet by 9.30am at the large picnic shelter Lookout located on the ring road within the Gardens (see map attached),
Wear sunhats and stout walking shoes and bring walking sticks or poles if desired.

Over morning tea there will be:

an introductory presentation covering a brief history and layout of the Mt Coot-tha Gardens,
a small display of African wooden and other artefacts,
an overview of the African collections at Mt Coot-tha – and a little botany!

Parking: The 3-hour visit involves self-drive to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mt Coot-tha. On weekdays the Gardens are less crowded and participants can drive onto the ring road within the Gardens to park in one of the two areas adjacent to the Lookout, or near the National Freedom Wall (see map attached – the Freedom Wall is a 5-minute walk from the Lookout).

Walk rating: The walk is along sealed paths. Distances up to 2 km, gentle slopes, some stairs, some uneven surfaces and 5-minute standing periods for guide explanations.

Enquiries contact the RSGQ office +61 7 3368 2066 or email info@rgsq.org.au

Immigration in Australia (Friday, August 28, 2026)

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 03:30:00 GMT

RGSQ & The University of Queensland School of the Environment

The Royal Geographical Society of Queensland and the University of Queensland School of the Environment have organised a public forum with an excellent panel of speakers to present some critical perspectives on Immigration in Australia. We hope you can join us for this important event.

Friday 28 August, 2026
1:45-5pm; please arrive by 1.30pm
followed by St Lucy’s café for social drinks 5-7pm

VENUE: The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, room TBA

CHAIRS: Dr Iraphne Childs, RGSQ; Assoc. Prof. Thomas Sigler, UQ-SENV

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Associate Prof. Elin Charles-Edwards UQ SENV
Australian Immigration Trends: Composition, Sources and Prospects

SPEAKERS:
Assoc. Prof. Aude Bernard UQ-SENV
Migration and Population Ageing: Evaluating Policy Trade-offs

Assoc. Prof. Thomas Sigler UQ-SENV
Four Brisbanes, Three Melbournes: Exploring Clustering in International Migration Populations

Dr. Rennie Lee UQ-ISSR
Longitudinal Pathways of Student Visa Holders

ATTENDANCE COST (includes afternoon tea)
General public $20, $10 Zoom
RGSQ $5, $5 zoom
UQ Staff free
Students free

MORE INFORMATION
w www.rgsq.org.au
e info@rgsq.org.au
p (07) 3368 2066