Upcoming Events
The Bhutan Society organises several events each year, in London and elsewhere, for Society members.
The next events will be:
2026
11th June at 6:30pm, in person and online: Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
The Conference Room is in the RBGE Science Building, 20a Inverleith Row, EH3 5LR. It is about 100 meters north of the East Gate (not the West Gate, where the big café is).
Click on the zoom link here to join online
Members are strongly encouraged to bring guests, and there will be a £10 charge for the event by way of a contribution to the event.
Please inform Deborah Keith if you plan to attend in person (deborah@scottsteedman.com)
Bhutan Through the Eyes of George Bogle: The First British Diplomat to Bhutan by Jamyang Choden
Jamyang will explore the historic journey of George Bogle, the first British envoy sent in the late 18th century by the Governor General of the East India Company to Bhutan, en route to Tibet to establish diplomatic and trade relations. She will also highlight Bogle’s observations of Bhutan’s people, landscape and government at the time.
Bhutan Then, Now, and Tomorrow: A Visual Journey - Tshering Dorji and Dr David Long
For centuries the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan remained unknown, which helped to keep its landscapes, architecture, traditions and culture extraordinarily intact. Modern development was initiated in 1961. The talk will present a visual journey of Bhutan’s development seen through its cultural and environmental landscapes.
Jamyang works at the National Biodiversity Centre in Thimphu, currently residing in Edinburgh. During her time in the UK, she is engaged in digitising and transcribing George Bogle’s archival material and conducting an in-depth study of his writing, aiming to bring new insights into the important historical encounter.
Tshering Dorji is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh (and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) specialising in Bhutan’s grassland ecosystems. Tshering worked in various capacities in the Royal Government of Bhutan with his first placement as a plant collector for the National Herbarium and more recently as a forester in the Department of Forests and Park Services.
Dr David Long, based at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, is a taxonomist with expertise in bryophytes and in the vascular plant flora of the Sino-Himalayan region. He worked extensively in Bhutan as a plant collector since the 1970s. His work culminated in a 9-part Flora of Bhutan, which he co-edited.
1st July at 6.30pm, in person and online, at The Spurriergate Centre in York
By: Sonam Rinzin and Professor Rachel Carr
Venue: The Spurriergate Centre, St Michael's Church, Spurriergate, York YO1 9QR
Click on the zoom link here to join online.
Members are strongly encouraged to bring guests, and there will be a £10 charge for the event by way of a contribution to the event.
Please inform Deborah Keith if you plan to attend in person (deborah@scottsteedman.com)
Join us for our first event in York at this special and historic venue in the heart of York.
Professor Rachel Carr and Sonam Rinzin will present their groundbreaking research on glacial lake outburst floods and the growing risks they pose to communities and mountaineers.
Professor Rachel Carr is a professor of glaciology at Newcastle University and her research focuses on the response of glaciated regions to climate change. She uses a combination of remote sensing, GIS and numerical modelling and study areas include Greenland, Svalbard, Russian High Arctic, New Zealand and the European Alps. Among several, current projects include quantifying trends in world-wide hazard and risk from glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the Himalayas. She will discuss her research with relevance to ice loss in Bhutan.
Sonam Rinzin is currently pursuing a PhD at Newcastle University in the field of Physical Geography. His thesis focuses on understanding how glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) hazard interacts with downstream exposure and vulnerability in order to shape understanding of GLOF risk in Bhutan.
For this talk, Sonam will take us into the heart of GLOF risk in Bhutan highlighting how the remote community of Lunana is living on the frontline of risk driven by glacier retreat and GLOF hazards. Over the past seven years including his ongoing PhD studies, Sonam has developed extensive expertise in GLOF hazard and risk assessment in the Himalayas, with particular focus on Bhutan.
Annual Reception
Friday 6th November 2026
The Michael Hall, St Michael and All Angels Church, Bath Road, Chiswick. London W4 1LW
Time: 6:30pm - 9:45pm
The Annual Reception is an opportunity for Members to meet and network. Student Members are especially welcome and are offered free tickets, subject to sponsorship. The format of the reception this year will be an evening reception and simple sit down dinner with Bhutanese dancing afterwards.
Tickets cost £48 per person, including wine and non-alcoholic drinks and dinner with a variety of dishes. Vegetarian options will be available. You are welcome to bring guests.
Please consider sponsoring a ticket for a Bhutanese Student to attend, whether or not you are able to join us for the event. The reception is a popular event for the Students and an opportunity for them to engage with the Society. Your support would be greatly appreciated.
Booking: The easiest way to book is to use one of the buttons at the top of this page. This is easiest for us too! Alternatively, downloadable pdfs can also be found here, a copy of which is also in the Summer Newsletter. The complete downloadable form should be posted, or emailed using the address below.
Please inform Scott Steedman if you plan to attend in person (secretary@bhutansociety.com)