Australian_Geographic_2015_07-08.

July–August 2015 115

AUSTR ALIAN GEOGR APHIC SOCIETY NEWS & INITIATIVES

MAIN PHOTO: KHANDAKER RAHMAN; INSET: COURTESY SANDY ROBSON

119

UPCOMING EXPEDITIONS

Explore far and wide with the AGS.

117

VANISHING GLACIERS

Spotlight on a disappearing habitat.

116

FUNDR AISING SUCCESS

Record donations for sea turtles.

Patron: Dick Smith Advisory Council: Chris Bray, Ian

Connellan, Chrissie Goldrick, John Leece, Kerry Morrow,

Greg Mortimer, Jo Runciman, Todd Tai, Howard W helan

Chairman: Gregg Haythorpe AGS Administrator:

Nicola Conti

AGS CHAIR MAN’S LETTER

E

ACH YEAR we host the Australian

Geographic Society’s annual

awards dinner, where we revel in

bringing fantastic awardees in the fi elds

of adventure and conservation together

with our loyal readers and supporters.

Last year was our biggest event ever;

350 guests enjoyed a lovely evening

in downtown Sydney, mingling with

special guests including Bindi Irwin,

Dick Smith and wingsuit fl yers

Heather Swan and Glenn Singleman

(see page 92). Tickets are now on sale

for our 2015 dinner. This is our most

important fundraising event and we’re

hoping you’ll be there to support our

vital work, and pull out all the stops to

make this our best awards night yet!

The dinner will be held on 28 October.

Find out how to book on the opposite

page, and don’t delay, as it will sell out

fast. I look forward to seeing you there.

Come dine

with us!

Come to meet our star conser-

vationists and adventurers.

Gregg Haythorpe, AG Society Chairman

AGS MAJOR SPONSORS

H

ER MISSION WAS inspired by

German canoeist Oskar

Speck, who, from 1932 to

1939, paddled a folding kayak from

Germany to Australia. Now in the

final stages of her epic five-year

journey, Sandy Robson has been

awarded the 2015 Nancy-Bird Walton

Sponsorship for female adventurers.

The sea kayaker is retracing Speck’s

route as best she can, and hopes that

her journey will inspire more female

adventurers and highlight the impor-

tance of taking care of our oceans.

“I have realised how lucky we are in

Australia to have such a rich and

diverse ecosystem and people who do

ADVENTUR E GR ANT AWAR DEE

This intrepid Australian receives the grant to help her

complete an epic paddle from Germany to Australia.

not pump plastic into the oceans,” she

says on her website. “We need to keep

working on preserving and protecting

these unique ecosystems and the

environment that is the support

system for our planet.”

Sandy is currently kayaking through

South-East Asia on the fourth stage

of her fi ve-leg journey. By the end of

her half-decade-long endeavour,

Sandy will have travelled more than

22,000km through 20 countries. By

the time she arrives home, she will

have completed a number of world

fi rsts, including being the fi rst person

to circumnavigate Sri Lanka by kayak.

JAMES O’HANLON

Sandy Robson awarded the 2015

Nancy-Bird Walton sponsorship

En route. Sandy poses for a

picture in the Bay of Bengal,

and (inset) shows her kayak

to fans in Bangladesh.

圀漀爀氀搀䴀愀最猀⸀渀攀琀圀漀爀氀搀䴀愀最猀⸀渀攀琀

WorldMags.net