Greenough was an active supporter of many important learned scientific societies existing in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1831 he was one of the prime movers in establishing the British Association for the Advancement of Science (now the British Science Association). He helped found the Geographical Society of London in 1830 (later to become the Royal Geographical Society), being elected to its first council and serving as president from 1839 to 1841. Greenough was an early advocate for physical geography and the accurate delineation of physical features thereby "endeavouring to give a more scientific character to the proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society".