Governance

Leigh Radford OAM

President

Leigh trained as a Physical Geographer and has strong interest in landscapes from a biogeographic and geomorphological perspective. He believes that background helped enormously in a career as a Rural Broadcaster and reporter with the ABC, travelling extensively across the nation for more than 30 years.

Now semi-retired, Leigh has come full circle and is again actively involved in the world of Geography and is the current President of RGSSA. He believes that the Society is one of South Australia’s best keep secrets and he’s on a mission to avail others about our remarkable and priceless collection of books, maps and historical artefacts.

Professor Guy Robinson

Vice-President

Guy joined Council in 2021, having been a member of the RGSSA since 2008. He is a human geographer with degrees from the Universities of London and Oxford, and has over 45 years of experience as a researcher working on rural development and environmental management. He began his career at the University of Edinburgh and was awarded the President’s Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. He is a former President of the British Australian Studies Association and has been a visitor in several Australasian universities, including Canterbury, Melbourne, Newcastle, New South Wales and Otago. At UniSA he was Director of the Centre for Regional Engagement from 2010-2014. Currently he is a Departmental Associate in the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge, an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Population at the University of Adelaide, and Editor of Research in Globalization.

Dr Julia Short

Vice-President

Julia joined the Society in 2015 after winning the John Lewis prize after her first year of university. She sits on the Council and the Engagement & Communications Committee.

She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Adelaide, looking at how lakes have responded to human arrival in New Zealand. When not studying, Julia loves travelling, the outdoors and cooking.

Emeritus Distinguished Professor Iain Hay

Director

Iain first joined the RGSSA in the early 1990s, served on Council from 1996-2000, and edited the South Australian Geographical Journal from 1996-99. He re-joined Council in 2019, reflecting his deep interest in the state and future of the discipline,

Iain is Matthew Flinders Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Geography at Flinders University and Chair of the Australian Academy of Science’s National Committee for Geographical Sciences. Former roles include as First Vice-President of the International Geographical Union (IGU) and past President of the Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG). 

Professor Hay has been widely recognised for contributions to geography, professional service, and higher education (e.g. 2006 Prime Minister's Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year; 2021 Fellowship of the American Association of Geographers; 2022 Institute of Australian Geographer's Australia-International Medal). Most recently he received one of the most esteemed awards in international Geography, the 2024 IGU Laureat d'Honneur).

Tony Merchant

Treasurer – Tony Merchant

Tony was introduced to the Society in 2019 through his membership with the Friends of the State Library of SA and has a particular interest in History and Geography.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants and has been employed as a Financial Accountant at various companies in the motor vehicle and manufacturing industries throughout his career. He is a playing Member and Treasurer of Ascot Park–Vermont Tennis Club for the past 30 years. Recently retired, Tony is able to pursue some of his other interests including bushwalking, family history and Travel.

Rod Shearing OAM

Immediate Past President

Rod was President from 1993-97 and 2008-17. He came from a solid administrative background in finance and a general administration skill set. This background enabled program implementation at the highest levels of enterprise. These skill sets saw him catapulted onto the Society’s Council three months after joining in 1985! His strengths include private enterprise in Australia and the United Kingdom, and, at state level, Education, Local Government, Arts and Cultural Heritage and the Attorney General’s court and licensing regimes.

How did a generalist administrator become President, twice, of the Royal Geographical Society? The membership saw that the skills that I had could lead and enhance the Society’s operations into the future. Academically studying Geography up to matriculation level, with very good grades, having a tertiary financial qualification and having travelled around the world at the start of my involvement with the Society, helped me to start joining up the dots as a member of the Society’s Council.

The other dots to join came from my broad knowledge of Local Government and Libraries, Arts and Heritage/Cultural services, Education and community networking. So, what are most of the dots that I joined?

• Developing a strategic ongoing program of activities for members and marketing the Society to the wider community.
• Networking with the geographical community (GTASA, IAG, IGU, other Geographical Societies in Australia and overseas, Australia’s Cultural Institutions, Spatial Sciences, Local Government, Libraries Australia, the Australian Academy of Science and kindred historical community groups).
• Fostering close ties with our landlord, the Libraries Board of S.A., for the foreseeable next 40 years.
• Encouraging a collegiate approach to decision making, promotion and marketing.
• Maintaining and developing publications and research and awards programs.

Melissa Gibbs

Secretary

Melissa first joined the Society in the early 80s to gain access to some of the rare resources in the Society’s library relevant to her research with CSIRO on the history of the pastoral lands in the North East of South Australia. From the mid-80s to the early 90s she was actively involved in many of the Society’s committees including Program, Library and as Council Secretary and membership officer; earning the Society’s Silver Centenary Medal in 1993.

She re-joined Council as Secretary in 2017 and took over maintaining the Society’s website in August 2018. She has recently retired after working for nearly 40 years at the University of Adelaide and is interested in arid lands, walking and geocaching.

Michael Burdett

Councillor

Michael Burdett has a background in Land Surveying and Mapping which has taken him to many parts of the Northern Territory and South Australia. Through this work Michael held the position of the South Australian Surveyor-General which he held from 2012 to 2022. Through this role Michael oversaw the regulation of our land title system which holds around 900,000 parcels of land across the state. He also managed the state’s mapping system which records an up to date and historical record of the land, its features and regulatory restrictions over the state. A key driver of his time in government was to make as much as possible of the geographic record of the state available freely and readily available online.

Frances Gnodtke

Councillor

Frances joined the RGSSA in 2015 when resettling back in Adelaide after living overseas for almost three decades. Frances is now retired after 40 plus years in nursing in Australia and internationally. Frances became involved with repairing RGSSA maps shortly after joining. She continues to do this and has also been a Member of the Program Committee for the past three years, and is now in her second year as Chair of that Committee. Frances became a Council member in 2016 and is currently involved with planning the RGSSA Outback Tour for October 2019.

Her interests include Egyptology, Middle Eastern archaeology, astronomy, botanical painting, history and discovering what lies over the horizon!

Dr Andrew Lothian

Councillor

Dr Andrew Lothian has had a lifelong involvement in environmental policy. He worked at a senior level in the South Australian Department of Environment for several decades and made significant contributions in advancing ecological sustainability, greenhouse, state of environment reporting, and environmental valuation. Many of these involved participation at the national level. Originally trained in Town Planning, he graduated MSc (Environmental Resources) in the UK, and in 2000 completed a PhD on landscape quality assessment of South Australia.

In 2002, he established Scenic Solutions, a consultancy providing services in landscape quality assessment and has completed projects covering the South Australian coast, Flinders and Mt Lofty Ranges, River Murray, the Barossa region and the Lake District in England. He has also assessed the visual impacts of wind farms in Australia and Britain, and of developments on the coast and the River Murray. He served for ten years as a Sessional Commissioner of the Environment, Resources and Development Court. Dr Lothian is a past President and Secretary of the Environment Institute of Australia (South Australian Division) and has served as a councillor on local government.

Hugh Orr

Councillor

Hugh Orr was born in Adelaide and went to school and university in Melbourne. He has a degree in engineering from the University of Melbourne, is Fellow of Engineers Australia (retired) and has a Master of Town Planning from the University of Adelaide. After working overseas he settled in Adelaide where he spent 35 years as a consulting engineer. In latter years he worked in water catchment management planning - a field closely related to geography. He was on the board of the Investigator Science Centre for 10 years and was chair for three years.

He joined the RGSSA in 2018 and since late 2022 has been co-ordinator of the treasures project and as a result has developed a special interest in the library. He also has a long term interest in John and Elizabeth Gould and has written a number of monographs on related topics which he has donated to the RGSSA.

He is an active masters rower, was president of his rowing club for three years and wrote a history his club.

Joc Schmiechen

Councillor

Since the early 70s Joc has had an ongoing involvement in outdoor education, expedition leadership, Aboriginal education, environmental management, cross cultural and eco-tourism, encompassing some of the remotest and wildest locations in Australia and Antarctica. He has presented widely at international conferences, on expedition cruise ships and at leading institutions like the Smithsonian in the US.

Joc has been a member of the RGSSA for over 25 years having been encouraged to join by Warren Bonython, with whom he shared numerous walking and cart hauling adventures. He has been a long-standing member of the RGSSA Program Committee and through his diverse contact network, over many disciplines has been responsible for obtaining many outstanding speakers for the monthly lecture program. He has a strong belief in the values and fundamentals on which the RGSSA is based and is happy to contribute further to its advancement by serving on the Council.

Rob Shepherd

Councillor

Rob is a long-time member of the RGSSA and has formerly been a Council member and Chair of the Program Committee. Rob is a recently retired secondary Principal, who continues part time as an educational consultant particularly in the areas of Aboriginal Education and leadership development.

Rob has a strong interest in Geography and was the SACE Geography Chief Examiner over many years. He taught Geography, Biology and Natural Resource Management at Secondary level. He has also been an occasional lecturer in the Post Graduate Dip Ed program at the University of Adelaide. He is particularly passionate about sustainable environmental, social and cultural development and has worked internationally and throughout South Australia. Rob has worked on the accreditation of international schools and has been an assessor for the Council for International Schools (Madrid) and the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (The Hague). He has been a frequent presenter at international conferences in the Asia Pacific region regarding international mindedness and language reclamation.

He established sister schools in South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Laos and Mongolia and had educational experiences in Zimbabwe. He has worked extensively in Aboriginal education and has been Chair of and is currently a board member of SAASTA (the SA Aboriginal Sports training Academy) and the Ice Factor Ice Skating) Program. He is also a strong advocate for the reclamation of indigenous languages and speaks Kaurna language.

He has recently been made a life member of the Dare2 Dream Foundation, an Australian not-for-profit charity that supports abandoned children and people in difficult circumstances in India.

Dr Gerti Szili

Councillor

Gerti joined the RGSSA Council in 2021 to help promote Geography to the wider community. She is a human geographer with degrees from the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia. She began her career at the University of Adelaide and was awarded the Environment Medal in 2004. Her expertise lies in uncovering the social and environmental implications of landscapes in transition, with a particular focus on urban regeneration projects.

She has infused her passion for all things Geography through her teaching and research appointments at the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia and the University of Melbourne and Deakin University in Victoria, regularly receiving commendations for her excellence in teaching. Her current role as Lecturer in Geography and Scholarly Fellow at Flinders University involves teaching across several disciplines including Geography, Environmental Studies, Tourism and Development Studies.

Nona Verco

Councillor

I grew up in Adelaide, married a New Zealander, lived there for 18 years where I was on the Christchurch-Adelaide Sister City committee. I was involved with Sister Cities for many years, including a period on the national council of the Australian Sister Cities Association.
In the 1990’s I was a student of geography and history at the University of Adelaide gaining an Honours degree, then from UniSA, a Graduate Diploma of Information Studies which is the qualification for a librarian.
I have always loved reading and old books, so I enjoy being involved with the library of the RGSSA. In recent years I began travelling, the best trip I did was entitled ’The Great Libraries of England’ and was a wonderful experience.