This list of geography awards is an index to articles about notable awards for geography, the field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of the Earth and planets. The list is organized by the region and country of the organization who gives the award. Awards are not necessarily limited to people from the award-giver's country.
| Award | Sponsor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Camsell Medal | Royal Canadian Geographical Society | Individuals who have given outstanding service to the society [1] |
| Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society | Royal Canadian Geographical Society | Particular achievement by one or more individuals in the general field of geography or a significant national or international event [2] |
| Lawrence J. Burpee Medal | Royal Canadian Geographical Society | Help make Canada better known on a national or international level, and/or contribute to general advancement of geography [3] |
| Martin Bergmann Medal | Royal Canadian Geographical Society | Excellence in Arctic leadership and science [4] |
| Massey Medal | Royal Canadian Geographical Society | Outstanding personal achievement in the exploration, development or description of the geography of Canada [5] |
| Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration | Royal Canadian Geographical Society | Exploration [6] |
| Country | Award | Sponsor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | Hans Egede Medal | Royal Danish Geographical Society | Outstanding services to geography, principally for geographical studies and research in the Polar lands [7] |
| France | Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations | Société de Géographie | Journeys whose outcomes have enhanced geographical knowledge [8] |
| France | Vautrin Lud Prize | International Festival of Geography | Outstanding achievements in the field of geography. Awarded by an international jury at the annual festival in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges [9] |
| Iceland | Leif Erikson Awards | The Exploration Museum | Achievements in exploration and work in the field of exploration history [10] |
| International | Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal | International Cartographic Association | Significant contributions of an original nature to the field of cartography [11] |
| Russia | Constantine Medal | Russian Geographical Society | Explorers who had made a significant geographical discovery or to authors of outstanding publications in geography, ethnography or Russian statistics [12] |
| Sweden | Anders Retzius medal | Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography | Geographer or anthropologist; [13] discontinued |
| Sweden | Vega medal | Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography | Outstanding physical geographer [13] |
| Award | Sponsor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Back Award | Royal Geographical Society | Applied or scientific geographical studies which make an outstanding contribution to the development of national or international public policy |
| Cherry Kearton Medal and Award | Royal Geographical Society | Traveller concerned with the study or practice of natural history, with a preference for those with an interest in nature photography, art or cinematography |
| Fuchs Medal | British Antarctic Survey | Outstanding devotion to the British Antarctic Survey's interests, beyond the call of normal duty, by men or women who are or were members of the Survey, or closely connected with its work |
| Founder's Medal | Royal Geographical Society | Encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery |
| Patron's Medal | Royal Geographical Society | Encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery |
| Livingstone Medal | Royal Scottish Geographical Society | Outstanding service of a humanitarian nature with a clear geographical dimension |
| Mungo Park Medal | Royal Scottish Geographical Society | Outstanding contributions to geographical knowledge through exploration and/or research, and/or work of a practical nature of benefit to humanity in potentially hazardous physical and/or social environments |
| Murchison Award | Royal Geographical Society | Publications judged to have contributed most to geographical science |
| Ness Award | Royal Geographical Society | Travellers, particularly those who have successfully popularised Geography and the wider understanding of our world and its environments. |
| Polar Medal | Monarchy of the United Kingdom | Extreme human endeavour against the appalling weather and conditions that exist in the Arctic and Antarctic |
| Scottish Geographical Medal | Royal Scottish Geographical Society | Conspicuous merit and a performance of world-wide repute |
| Victoria Medal (geography) | Royal Geographical Society | Conspicuous merit in research in geography |
| Award | Sponsor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Anderson Medal of Honor | American Association of Geographers | highest honor bestowed by the AAG Applied Geography Specialty Group |
| Alexander & Ilse Melamid Medal | American Geographical Society | Outstanding work on the dynamic relationship between human culture and natural resources |
| Charles P. Daly Medal | American Geographical Society | Valuable or distinguished geographical services or labors |
| Cullum Geographical Medal | American Geographical Society | Those who distinguish themselves by geographical discoveries or in the advancement of geographical science |
| David Livingstone Centenary Medal | American Geographical Society | Scientific achievements in the field of geography of the Southern Hemisphere |
| George Davidson Medal | American Geographical Society | Exceptional achievement in research for exploration in the Pacific Ocean or the lands bordering therein |
| Hubbard Medal | National Geographic Society | Distinction in exploration, discovery, and research |
| Osborn Maitland Miller Medal | American Geographical Society | Outstanding contributions in the field of cartography or geodesy |
| Paul P. Vouras Medal | American Geographical Society | Outstanding work in regional geography |
| Samuel Finley Breese Morse Medal | American Geographical Society | Achievements and pioneering in geographical research |
| Van Cleef Memorial Medal | American Geographical Society | Scholars who have done outstanding original work in the field of urban geography, preferable, though not necessarily in applied rather than theoretical aspects |
| Award | Sponsor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jawahar Lal Nehru Medal | National Geographical Society of India | Dr. Sundar Lal Hora, Director, Zoological Survey of India was awarded this medal for his research on Zoogeography. |
| Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Medal | National Geographical Society of India | Professor L Dudley Stamp of the University of London was awarded this medal |
| Madan Mohan Malviya Medal | National Geographical Society of India | Professor Shannon McCune, Head of the department of geography of the Colgate University was awarded this medal. |
The Royal Geographical Society with IBG, often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences, the Society has 16,000 members, with its work reaching the public through publications, research groups and lectures.
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society is a Canadian nonprofit educational organization dedicated to imparting a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada—its people and places, its natural and cultural heritage, and its environmental, social and economic challenges.
John Ross Mackay, was a Canadian geographer. He is most noted for his explorations of permafrost phenomena in the western Canadian Arctic. His 40 plus years of study has enabled the building of pipeline operations and petroleum explorations in areas of frozen ground. The Royal Society of Canada stated the following when Mackay was awarded the Willet G. Miller Medal in 1975:
The International Cartographic Association (ICA), is an organization formed of national member organizations, to provide a forum for issues and techniques in cartography and geographic information science (GIScience). ICA was founded on June 9, 1959, in Bern, Switzerland. The first General Assembly was held in Paris in 1961. The mission of the International Cartographic Association is to promote the disciplines and professions of cartography and GIScience in an international context. To achieve these aims, the ICA works with national and international governmental and commercial bodies, and with other international scientific societies.
The Victoria Medal is an award presented by the Royal Geographical Society. It is awarded "for conspicuous merit in research in geography" and has been given since 1902, in honour of the late Queen Victoria. Up until then, the society's Patron's Medal had alternatively been known as the "Victoria Medal", and the new medal resembled its original design.
Barry Morton Gough is a global maritime and naval historian recognized for the range and quality of his body of work and his influence in the wider good of the profession. He is an accomplished biographer, having written the lives of such diverse persons as the mariner Juan de Fuca, the fur trading organizer Peter Pond, and the intrepid trans-continental explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie. As an historiographer, he has examined the lives of rival British naval historians Arthur Marder and Captain Stephen Roskill, and more recently, as an analyst of British naval history, has written the interlocking lives of the titans at the admiralty, Admiral Lord Fisher and Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill, whose work was essential to Britain's maintenance of sea supremacy in the First World War. Gough has made a number of monographic contributions to ethnohistory, cross-cultural relations, patterns of missionary acceptance among Northwest Coast peoples, frontier–borderland studies and environmental history. With the perspective of British sea power worldwide,he has set out the maritime dimensions of British Columbia history and has worked to recast and reaffirm the imperial foundations of Canadian history.
Jill Heinerth is a Canadian cave diver, underwater explorer, writer, photographer and film-maker. She has made TV series for PBS, National Geographic Channel and the BBC, consulted on movies for directors including James Cameron, written several books and produced documentaries including We Are Water and Ben's Vortex, about the disappearance of Ben McDaniel.