The Dudley Stamp Memorial Award

Celebrating the work undertaken by the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award recipients across the decades

The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

Created and Designed by Lily Bradshaw

Sir Dudley Stamp

Sir Dudley Stamp worked to popularise the discipline of geography, and played a key role in promoting the teaching of the subject in schools. He travelled widely, assisting in the setting up of numerous land use surveys, while his reputation drew postgraduates from around the world to work on his projects.

Lawrence Dudley Stamp (1898-1966) was an internationally renowned British geographer who served as President of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Institute of British Geographers. His Land Utilisation Survey of Great Britain in the 1930s and 1940s, a modern Domesday Book, sought to classify land use in Britain, and was undertaken with the help of enthusiastic teachers and school children who carried out much of the survey work.

The Dudley Stamp Memorial Award was established in 1967 to enable geographers in the early stages of their careers to travel in support of their research. In 2016 the Dudley Stamp Memorial Fund became a linked charity of the RGS-IBG.

This story map explores the story of the grant and celebrates the work it has enabled. Travelling through the decades, we focus on individual research projects, look at the large scale impact of the grant, and map its global impact.

This Cartogram represents the number of projects, funded by the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award, carried out in each country.

1970s

In the first decade of the Award, 38 projects were supported across 26 countries, from France to Brazil, India to Malaysia, and Yugoslavia to Syria. British geographers were supported in their formative years to establish research programmes and to advance the scope of British geography.

Focus on France

France was the most popular country, with an array of projects focused in both human and physical geography. Topics included rural de-population and agricultural land use change, Alpine limestone pavements and the industrial south.

Neil Roberts

In 1977, Professor Neil Roberts received the award to fund the first field season of his PhD research in northern Syria. "The trip was formative in terms of clarifying my research aims and geographical study region, and as such helped to make my PhD a success".

1980s

In this decade, the projects funded expanded further. 65 projects were supported across 31 countries. This interactive map pinpoints some of the many projects carried out in the 1980s. Click on the pinpoints across the globe for further information.

Mike Hulme

In 1989, Professor Mike Hulme was funded to investigate rainfall variability in the Sudan, by collecting old climatic data and Nile river records in Khartoum and Cairo. "This enabled me to place the very earliest (model-based) projections of future human-caused climate change for this region into some historical context. It enabled me to secure funding for a PhD student (from the Stockholm Environment Institute) – now Professor Declan Conway of the LSE – and some of the first published work on climate change and the Nile Basin".

Nick Middleton

In 1984, Dr Nick Middleton was funded to undertake work on dust storms in Mexico. "This was part of my doctoral thesis. It helped me become what I am today: a part-time academic specialising in drylands at the University of Oxford".

1990s

The third decade of the award saw the development of technology and further extension of global travel. 78 projects were funded across 39 countries, with projects across Asia, the Caribbean and Central and South America becoming more common.

In 1990, Dr Elizabeth Baigent was funded to undertake archival research for her work on Swedish immigrants in the USA. "The Dudley Stamp Awards are helpful because of their flexibility… The archival work significantly enriched my study".In 1991, Professor Brice Rea undertook fieldwork on and around the margins of Øksfjordjøkelen, North Norway. "The award I received provided a significant contribution towards the first field season of my PhD".

2000s

At the turn of the millennium, the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award continued to fund exploratory work across the globe. Topics emerged in global inequalities, biofuels and energy security, and natural hazards.

In 2008 Dr Bethan Davies was supported for part of her PhD research, focused on the Warren House Gill on the NE England coastline in Co. Durham. “The funds allowed me to excavate the site, which was buried by several metres of mining waste, and procure samples for thin-section analysis. This was essential to my PhD”.

In 2009, Dr Anna Barford was awarded funding for her PhD research, working with teachers in Kenya. “I used cartograms to stimulate focus group discussion about global inequalities and to understand how intuitive these maps are to read”.

2010s

In the fifth decade, projects funded applied technology to address pressing geographical issues across the world. 111 projects have been supported in 59 countries.

2015 Maria Sanchez-Lopez ‘Lithium Mining, Bolivia'."My research focuses on the Uyuni’s salt flat in the southwest region of Bolivia, exploring the dynamics in material and social terms emerging as a result of the commodification and enclosure of natural spaces".

2017 Julia Kelly ‘Greenhouse gas flux upscaling (Green Gap), Sweden’. “The Award supported three weeks of fieldwork at a peatland site managed by the Skogaryd Research Station in central Sweden. This allowed ground-based mapping, UAV test flights and a detailed vegetation survey to develop a landcover classification of the area".

2018 Kerry Bobbins ‘Green infrastructure and urban governance, South Africa’. “I was funded for a project on the understanding of green infrastructure concepts in Johannesburg, South Africa, and how this influences how infrastructural projects are governed”.

2019 Hazel Vallack ‘Reflux dolomitization, Abu Dhabi’. “I received an award to study water-rock interactions in the coastal sabkha of Abu Dhabi, and how this is reflected in porewater chemistry, mineralogy, porosity and permeability”.

The Dudley Stamp Memorial Award has enabled hundreds of early-career geographers to undertake fieldwork in 120 countries spanning six continents, advancing geographical knowledge across the discipline.

If you would like to find out more about all the projects supported, further information can be found here.

Dudley Stamp Memorial Award

If you are interested in applying for the Award, the next deadline is 23 November. Find out more here.

Apply Now

Thanks are extended to all those who have helped to fund and support the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award, enabling the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) to expand the geographical horizons of aspirational geographers across the last five decades.