Members of London's Royal Geographical Society have thrown out a resolution to resume large exploratory expeditions. Campaigners say that the vote highlights growing division within the world's biggest scholarly geographical society.

The society stopped organizing large expeditions such as open-ended explorations of rainforests, after reviews of research practices in 2001 and 2004 suggested that smaller, more focused projects were the best ways to tackle global problems such as climate change and the security of food and water. "Twenty-first-century geography, not nineteenth-century geography, is what we're talking about," says Gordon Conway, the society's president.

The resolution was defeated by 2,590 votes to 1,607 on 18 May. Supporters of the "Beagle Campaign" that put forward the resolution say they will continue to advocate their cause.