Biography of a public speaker

David's adventure, travel, and environmental education background

David has been a professional mountain walks leader and has climbed and backpacked in Britain, Canada, USA, Norway, Iceland, New Zealand, the Italian Dolomites and the Alps. He graduated from Edinburgh University with honours geology and worked as an expedition science leader in Botswana and the Yukon, as a field studies tutor teaching geology and geography, and for the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) as their University Expeditions Advisor. While at the RGS he fell off a mountain and self rescued with two broken legs.

He has worked as a ranger in the Grand Canyon National Park, and on a biodiversity survey of Montserrat as the volcanic eruptions started. He was the Director of Studies for Edinburgh University’s Global Environmental Change international summer school and has produced environmental resources for the National Trust for Scotland. David was for many years a lecturer in environmental sustainability for the University of Glasgow. He currently tutors for the University of the West of Scotland and the University of Glasgow at their Dumfries Campus, and he is a lecturer on the environment for the Open University. He is also an advisor for Keele University's Earth Science Education Unit. He combines this with freelance public speaking and lecturing around the world. David has had many articles published in national journals and has contributed to Radio 4's Excess Baggage travel programme. He has recently returned from an expedition in the Pacific conducting seafloor research.

David is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and in 2012 was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

David (back), with other award winners. The president of the RSGS, Professor Iain Stewart, is on the right.