He was commenting in an address at the opening session of New Zealand Geographical Society's national conference, being held at the University of Otago.
Prof Bedford, of Waikato University and who is president of the Royal Society of New Zealand, said the foundation professors of geography at several New Zealand universities had provided "expert advice to inform public policy''.
The late Prof Kenneth Cumberland, of Auckland University, and Prof Ron Lister, of Otago, were prominent examples.
"They both had a major impact on government policy and public debate about some critical issues facing New Zealand after the Second World War.''
Prof Bedford told the more than 120 people in the audience that in more recent times some geographers had been reluctant to engage with public policy development.
But policymakers needed good quality, research-based evidence, and he urged geographers to get involved.
Some geographers had previously also gone through a phase when they perhaps felt their academic discipline was too "amorphous'' and had sought to "re-badge'' themselves with other names, including as "hydrologists''.
But there was now growing recognition of geography's multi-disciplinary nature, he said.
Prof Tony Binns, of the Otago geography department, later said geography had been "really coming in to its own'' in dealing with complex matters such as climate change.
"Geography is playing a key role inshedding light on important issues that affect everybody,'' Prof Binns said.
The conference ends tomorrow.
