Over 150 years the aspirations of the Society have not changed. It continues to encourage interest in the natural sciences by means of lectures, meetings and field outings. There have been some changes over the years. The scope of natural science has expanded to include subjects such as oceanography and geophysics. Members of the Society no longer collect specimens to add to the museum’s collections but use digital photography and compile digital data to make detailed records of the fauna and flora
The Curious Minds lecture series offers a stimulating array of scientific topics, from dinosaur fossils in Skye through the human genome to gravitational waves.
The Archaeological & Historical, Botanical, Ornithological and Photographic Sections all run active programmes of winter meetings and summer outings to allow members to focus on special interests.
The Society is active in the wider world. It maintains links with like minded organisations and recently hosted a Radio Scotland Out of Doors programme to the Birks of Aberfeldy where the Society’s dandelion expert was interviewed. The Photographic Section curates regular exhibitions of members’ photographs and PSNS also organised a crowd-funding drive that allowed the Perth Museum to purchase the Sheriffmuir Neolithic stone ball for its collection.
