The current committee is (term dates shown in parenthesis):

The committee meets on a quarterly basis, and the Annual General Meeting of GeogEd is held on/around the time of the RGS Annual Conference (August/September time). If you wish to raise an item or idea for discussion, please get in touch with the Chair or Secretary.

Chair – Dr Alan Marvell 

Dr Alan Marvell is a Senior Lecturer and Lead for Learning and Teaching in the School of Business, Computing, and Social Sciences at the University of Gloucestershire. As a National Teaching Fellow, he is passionate about teaching, researching, and developing experiential pedagogies.
With a strong interest in international education, he serves as the Academic Course Leader for Logistics Management in Malaysia, and Vietnam. Previously, Alan led the Doctorate in Business Administration programme.
Alan has published work on field-based teaching methods, immersive student-led teaching, and experiential learning. He is a Chartered Geographer and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He served as an Elected Member of the Geographical Association Governing Body (2011–2018) and was presented with a GA Distinguished Service Award in 2020.
Alan is a member of the international Editorial Board for the Journal of Geography in Higher Education and is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

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Niall Majury headshot

Deputy Chair – Dr Niall Majury

I am an urban and economic Geographer on an education track appointment at Queen’s University Belfast.  My SOTL related research interests include: the negotiating the transition between school and university; forms of authentic learning; civic engagement & the curriculum; work-integrated learning; and assessment through digital storytelling.  I am currently a member of the RGS’s accreditation panel and contributed as a panel member to the most recent QAA Subject Benchmark Statements for Geography (2022) and Area Studies (2024).   A keen advocate for study abroad and cross-cultural learning, I pioneered within my faculty at Queen’s its first COIL course, Remaking Cities (2021/22), co-developed and co-taught with Dr Michael Glass, Urban Studies, University of Pittsburgh.  I hold a Senior Fellowship with the Higher Education Academy (2016). 

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Secretary – Dr Naomi Holmes

Naomi is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Education, based in both the Environment and Geography and Education Departments at the University of York. Naomi enjoys teaching students about and in the environment, and working with students to support them to succeed. Naomi’s research focuses on geography pedagogies in higher education (particularly around assessment and engagement, digital technologies, and outdoor and experiential learning), accessible and inclusive fieldwork and outdoor learning, and environmental change. As well as being an academic Naomi is an outdoor learning practitioner and has successfully integrated applied outdoor learning opportunities into her university learning, teaching and assessment activity.

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Website Manager & Member – Dr Kristofer Chan

Kris is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography (Education) with a specialism in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). Kris is based in the Geography Department at King’s College London, where he has taught since 2014. He currently co-leads the Environmental Science for Sustainability MSc and convenes the GIS and Spatial Data Science, Principles of Geographical Inquiry and Earth Observation: Science and Applications modules. Kris’ pedagogical focuses are on achieving Equality, Diversity & Inclusion through the use of TEL and experiential learning methods. He is currently exploring immersive virtual fieldwork delivery through virtual and augmented reality, 360° media, and interactive web mapping. Kris has completed the PGCAPHE and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and is behind the redesigned GeogEdRG.org

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Education Officer – Dr Liz Hurrell

Liz is Senior Lecturer (on a Teaching and Scholarship contract) and Programme Lead for the Physical Geography and Environment programme at the University of York; an Associate Lecturer for the Open University and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Liz is passionate about Geography education with particular interests in climate education, equality, diversity and inclusion, hybrid/online education as well as fieldwork. Liz has worked on several Communities of Practice (CoP) projects including: Virtual Palaeoscience, CULTIVATE and virtual field trips for Ukraine summer school. She has over 15 years experience of teaching Geography in Higher Education (from being a GTA to senior lecturer).

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Rhianna Garrett

EDI Officer – Rhianna Garrett

Rhianna is a Geography and Environment PhD researcher at Loughborough University, investigating the underrepresentation of racialised minority staff in UK higher education, with a focus on the career trajectories and experiences of space of PhDs and early career researchers. Within her CITHEI centre of doctoral research, she explores the concept of unequal academic citizenship, and the relationships between space, place, and race from an interdisciplinary, intersectional lens. Prior to working in the field of geography, her background rests in schools of education and history, specifically in equitable and engaging pedagogies. Her multiple award-winning research and advocacy in anti-racism has created a number of successful initiatives such as Loughborough University’s Freedom School, BAME PhD pathway events, and decolonisation projects.  

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Dissertation Award Officer – Dr Matt Finn

Matt is an Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of Exeter, and a Principal Fellow of the HEA. He explores changes in the contemporary conditions of education, and works to understand how childhood and young people’s lives vary globally. He brings this to his scholarship of geographical learning and education which is informed by a participatory action research ethos. He is a member of the Geography Education Research Collective (GEReCo) and part of the editorial collective of Geography – the Geographical Association’s international journal for lecturers, teachers and students in post-16 geography.

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Early Career & Postgrad Rep – Dr Alice Lacsny

Alice is a Learning, Teaching & Scholarship (LTS) lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Glasgow. Her research explores the experiences of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in the higher education context, with respect to the development of teaching identity and graduate attributes. My current scholarship also investigates the role of active learning practice in the development of inclusive learning environments.

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Ordinary Member – Dr Matej Blazek

Matej is Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Newcastle University. He is Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and his main pedagogic interests include mental health, wellbeing and inequalities in higher education, subjects he is pursuing in his work with GeogEd. Matej’s research focus includes geographies of children and young people, emotional geographies and geographies of race and migration. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Children’s Geographies.

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Vicky Johnson

Ordinary Member – Dr Vicky Johnson

Vicky is a Senior Lecturer in Geography and Environmental Studies at the Open University. Her teaching and research focus on the value of elements the environment, such as sea water quality, and how society reacts both to the generation of these values and their uses. Vicky is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. She undertakes a wide range of pedagogic research with particular focus on the Open University teaching approach. Prior to returning to academia, Vicky worked for a range of organisations including the Countryside Commission, Government Office (North West) and New Deal for Communities. Her research and industry background provide the basis for her geographical teaching.

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Ordinary Member – Dr Andy Suggitt

Andy is an ecologist and all-round lover of fieldwork and the outdoors. His research investigates the impacts of environmental change on flora and fauna, and specifically looks for ways in which we can find- or even create- refugia from hotter or drier conditions. He is also a qualified Mountain Leader (Mountain Training England Summer Award) and he is interested in working with GeogEd to improve the physical accessibility of fieldwork. He is based at the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Northumbria University.

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