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.

Famine to Feast - History of the Australian Fertilizer Industry (Tuesday, June 02, 2026)

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:30:00 GMT

RGSQ Lecture Series

Garry Kuhn, Author of Famine to Feast

The Australian landscape is aged in geological terms. It is an ancient land. The soil is infertile by world standards. Agriculture, however, is important to the nation's economy. It supports a population of 28 million at home. Around three quarters of what we grow is exported. In total, we support a population of 100 million. This would not be possible without fertilizers to correct soil infertility and maintain the fertility of our most productive soils.

Two hundred years ago, the fertilizers being used around the world included naturally occurring ores and organic wastes, e.g. manure, bones. There was not enough of these products to meet demand. From the 1840s to the 1870s, guano was mined from the Chinca Islands off the west coast of South America, until these deposits were mined out. Sodium nitrate was then mined from the Atacama Desert on the South American mainland from the 1870s. Byproduct ammonium sulfate became available from the coking of coal in the 1840s with the advent of the Industrial Revolution in Europe.

John Lawes patented a process to make superphosphate in 1843. It was the world's first chemically altered fertilizer, marking the birth of the modern fertilizer industry. In 1909, Fritz Haber, a German scientist, produced ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen. Carl Bosch commercialized the process Haber had researched. The Haber Bosch process is widely regarded as the most important technological development in the 20th century. James Cuming was the first to manufacture superphosphate in commercial quantities in Australia at Yarraville (Melbourne) in 1878. Three of the first five superphosphate plants were in South Australia. The first ammonia plant in Australia to use natural gas as a feedstock was built at Gibson Island (Brisbane), using gas from Roma, Australia’s first gas pipeline. It commenced operations in 1969.

Today, most of these plants have closed. There is one operational superphosphate plant at Risdon (Hobart). The Gibson Island ammonia and urea plants closed in 2023. The future of the ammonium phosphate manufacturing facility at Phosphate Hill in north-west Queensland is uncertain.

Today, it is estimated that 50% of crop yields worldwide are attributable to the use of commercial fertilizers.

Bio: Garry Kuhn grew up on a farm in southern Queensland, Australia, and studied Rural Technology at the Agricultural College at Gatton. He joined the fertilizer industry in 1974 working in research, sales, marketing, administrative and managerial roles until his retirement 43 years later in 2017.

In his book, Famine to Feast, he recounts the history of the fertilizer industry, in Australia and abroad, and some of his own experiences.

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

Moogerah Dam and the Warrill Valley (Wednesday, June 17, 2026)

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:30:00 GMT

RGSQ Traveller

Come along for a day in the Bremer River catchment focusing on the Warrill Valley Irrigation Scheme. We will be travelling by bus from Eagle Junction and Coopers Plains going to:

Moogerah Dam where staff from SEQ Water will brief us on the dam, its design and operation and how it supplies water to the Warrill Valley Irrigation Scheme and other users
one of more of the diversion weirs, pipelines and channels supplying water to irrigators
Cunningham Lookout west of Warrill View where we will examine the geology at the site and discuss the landscapes west to the Dividing Range and east to Flinders Peaks
a saline area where there has been some rehabilitation with re-vegetation

If there is time, on the return journey, we will stop at Purga Nature Reserve to see the Melaleuca irbyana vegetation community. Melaleuca irbyana is an endangered species in Queensland and a critically endangered under the Federal EPBC Act. Also, these communities often occur in interesting geological settings.

There will be some short walking involved, including stairs.

We will be issued with HiVis vests if needed but please wear long trousers, long sleeved shirts and enclosed shoes

Please bring something to eat and drink for morning tea at Moogerah Dam where there are picnic tables.

Lunch will be at the Kalbar Hotel, and you will be asked to pre order from a menu that will be emailed around so a bulk order can be emailed to the Hotel a day or two before to expedite service (lunch not included in cost).

When: Wednesday 17 June 2026

Departure: 7:30am (Will confirm times with participants later)

Park Avenue, Clayfield BCC Bus Stop 27 (near Eagle Junction station) (-27.41437 153.05083)

or Brittain Park (opposite Sherrington Street) Coopers Palins (-27.41419 153.04602)

Return about 4:30pm

Costs: $80 for Members, $90 for Non-Members

Maximum number: 20. Please join the waitlist if the maximum is exceeded.

Contact: Bob Reid 0412 625 944

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

Photo: Moogerah Dam with Mount Mitchell and Mount Cordeaux on skyline

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 tea10.30am - 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-membersMax 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 RGSQ office +61 7 3368 2066 or email info@rgsq.org.au

Wallum Wildflower Ecology (Wednesday, August 26, 2026)

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:30:00 GMT

RGSQ Traveller

Join our group to experience the beauty of Queensland’s Wallum heathlands in its prime blooming period. This is a perfect outing for photography enthusiasts and all those interested in knowing more about the botanical riches of South East Queensland.

This tour is designed to highlight the geography and ecology of the Wallum Heathlands north of Brisbane. We will examine the effects of the Pleistocene longshore sand transport system that has been referred to as the East Coast Sand River. The deposition of this sand led to extraordinary ecological communities dominated by wallum heathlands growing on acidic sandy soils. The waterways we will visit are typically rich in tannins with underlying Podosol soils, locally known as coffee rock.

The wallum heathland is not only endemically diverse and rich but also are adorned by attractive flowers, that culminate in an exhibition of late winter flourishing. We will discuss the animals who have evolved to live in these environments including the acid wallum frogs and the rare, eastern ground parrot. Discussions will focus on the effects fire, infertility, drought and waterlogging on this environment.

The excursions into the wallum communities include short walks at Beerwah Scientific Reserve and the Kathleen Macarthur Reserve at Currimundi. This expedition is organised by Ray Andrews, a local of the Sunshine Coast, award-winning naturalist and wildflower aficionado.

Lunch will be at your own expense at a café en-route.

When: Wednesday 26 August 2026. Departs Enoggera Bus Station at 8.30am.

Maximum 23 travellers. Please join waitlist if the maximum travellers have been reached.

Cost: $70 members, $80 non-members

Approx Timings:

0830 Pickup at Enoggera Train Station, Bus Parking area off Bus Lane on southern side of Station. Parking is off Glen Alva Terrace or nearby streets.

1000 drop off at Beerwah Scientific Reserve, Roys Rd Beerwah

1200 drop off at Beerwah for lunch, Simpson Street, Beerwah

1300 leave Beerwah

1330 drop off at Kathleen McArthur Reserve, Coongarra Esplanade, Currimundi

1500 leave Currimundi

1630 arrive Enoggera Train Station

Contact: Ray Andrews ph. 0409784410

Enquiries contact the RGSQ 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

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.