Rita Gardner

Rita Gardner was appointed Director of the Royal Geographical Society in 1996. "Prior to joining the Society, she had an academic career as a geomorphologist in London University, first as Lecturer in Geography at King’s College (1979-1994) and then as Reader and Head of the Environmental Science Unit at Queen Mary & Westfield College (1994-1996).

"Her field research centred on understanding natural and human-induced environmental changes in the late Quaternary and present day, largely in South Asia and the Middle East. From 1990 to 1998 she was Director of two major field research programmes in the Middle Hills of Nepal. She has written and edited four books and over 50 academic papers. She was educated at University College London (BSc) and the University of Oxford (D Phil), and is the holder of the Busk Medal for her work in geomorphology.

"She was awarded a CBE for ‘Services to Geography’ in 2003."