RSGB STEM Champion Appointed

RSGB Board Director, Ben Lloyd, GW4BML has appointed Ian Stevenson, G3YNU as the volunteer RSGB STEM Champion. This new role fits with the RSGB’s strategy to bring amateur radio to new audiences and to highlight the link between amateur radio and science, technology, engineering and maths.

Ian brings a wealth of experience to this role having been a mathematics teacher for ten years, with a further 23 years in Higher Education as a Senior Lecturer in ICT and Education. Ian also played a pivotal role in establishing the RSGB School Links Project, which introduced classroom activities that connect amateur radio with the school curricula. The project was established following Tim Peake’s Principial mission to the International Space Station, which included ten UK ARISS school contacts during Tim’s time in space.

In his new RSGB role, Ian is enthusiastic about fostering close ties with STEM organisations and STEM ambassadors across the UK, including those already engaged with the RSGB. If you’d like to contact Ian to share suggestions that may enhance the RSGB’s STEM outreach programme, you can contact him via stem.champion@rsgb.org.uk

Celebrating 70 years of GB2RS with New Awards

The RSGB’s weekly news broadcast, GB2RS, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, the Society is inviting you to collect awards for listening and logging GB2RS News broadcasts between Friday 1 August and Tuesday 30 September 2025. There are four categories, including a basic listener award and a regular listener award.

Full details of the programme, the rules and how to apply for your certificate are available by searching GB70RS at http://www.qrz.com 

To read about the awards and wider celebrations that are taking place for the 70th anniversary of GB2RS, go to http://www.rsgb.org/gb70rs

RSGB Convention Keynote Speaker Announced

The RSGB have announced that the Keynote Speaker for its 2025 Convention will be Professor Lucie Green. She is a Professor of Physics and a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory of the University College London. She has also presented many TV and radio programmes including The Sky at Night and Stargazing Live. During her talk, Professor Green will provide an update on the proposed Moon-Enabled Sun Occultation Mission, which she is working on with fellow UK researchers. The project will enable the team to study the conditions that create solar storms, leading to improvements in forecasts of space weather on Earth.

As well as releasing details of the Keynote Speaker, the RSGB has published a teaser of its Convention programme. This includes Neil Smith, G4DBN who will share his experience of taking complex ideas and turning them into stories that connect with wider audiences. Many of you will be familiar with Neil from the popular BBC series “The Secret Genius of Modern Life” for which he recreated a device invented by Leon Theremin. Bill Rothwell, G0VDE will show you that DXpeditions don’t always need to involve masses of equipment, and that one person can make a successful trip with only the luggage they carry. RSGB Propagation Studies Committee member Gwyn Griffiths, G3ZIL will explore Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances, whilst Brian Coleman, G4NNS will give you the latest update on the UK Meteor Radar System.

Read a list of confirmed speakers by going to http://www.rsgb.org/convention  and selecting the “RSGB 2025 Convention speakers” option from the right-hand menu. We have more speakers to add to that page over the coming weeks, so keep checking back to see the latest list.

The RSGB 2025 Convention is taking place at Kents Hill Conference Centre between 10-12 October 2025.