THE first of this year’s Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Inspiring People talks in Helensburgh is set to be held tonight.

The society’s 2017-18 season in Helensburgh features six talks, all on very different subjects, from this week until March of next year, with a variety of speakers.

The talks, in partnership with Tiso. include motivational stories of adventure, expertise on vital current issues and inspirational insights into people, places and the planet.

Last year the talks were highly successful with hundreds of people packing into the Victoria Halls to hear what the speakers had to say.

Set to address the first audience of the season in Helensburgh tonight is Christy Harrison, a zoologist, conservationist and primate expert, who spent many years in the jungles of Borneo studying and leading teams of volunteers for the Orangutan Foundation UK.

Christy will take audiences through the trials and tribulations of jungle life and what it taught her about the most ancient rainforest on the planet.

Christy’s talk will begin in the Victoria Halls at 7.30pm tonight and tickets are available at the door.

Following on from Christy are Luke and Hazel Robertson, RSGS explorers-in-residence, who will recount tales from their recent expedition, Due North: Alaska, from May to August 2017. The pair kayaked, biked and ran the length of Alaska in a world-first expedition.

They will share the rewards and challenges they faced when they headed off the beaten track and into the unknown as well as the environmental changes they observed, when they address audiences on October 26.

Leon McCarron is set to arrive in Helensburgh on November 23 when he will recount his story of following wild hiking trails from Jerusalem to traverse some of the most contested landscapes in the world.

His talk is set to be a journey through time, history, culture and religion – a story of people, not politics.

Next year will see Charlie Walker address audiences in the Victoria Halls about his nine-month, 9,000km triathlon spanning the length of the perceived border between Europe and Asia in February and what it is that divides and unites people. Charlie is set to speak on February 1, 2018.

On March 1, 2018, Scotland’s Geographer Royal, Professor Charles Withers, will present a talk examining and illuminating the mapping of Scotland’s islands.

The final talk in Helensburgh on March 29 will be delivered by John Geiger, the CEO of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

John will tell the story behind an extraordinary idea that people on the edge of death, adventurers and explorers, often experience a benevolent presence who encourages them to survive.

Founded in 1884, the RSGS aims to advance the science of geography worldwide by supporting education, research and expeditions through its journal (the Scottish Geographical Journal), newsletter (The Geographer) and other publications.

The society also hosts regular guest speakers at talks in towns across Scotland, including Aberdeen, Dumfries, Dundee, Dunfermline, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Tickets for future talks can be bought in advance at www.rsgs.org