David Quammen
David Quammen is the author of eleven books and hundreds
of magazine articles. Although he began as a fiction writer
(three novels and a book of long stories, Blood Line, 1988), for
the past two decades he has written nonfiction, focusing mainly
on natural science (ecology and evolutionary biology) and the
interconnectedness of history, culture, and landscape. His most
recent book is The Reluctant Mr. Darwin and his best known is
The Song of the Dodo, a rumination on the history of studies of
evolution and extinction on islands, which won the John Burroughs
Medal for nature writing and several other awards. Quammen is a
three-time recipient of the National Magazine Award (twice for his
essays) and has been honored also with an academy award from
the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is a Contributing
Writer for National Geographic (the first freelancer in the history
The University of Northern Colorado
2008 Rosenberry Writers ’ Conference
of the magazine to be given that title) and a Contributing Editor
for Harper’s, which means less in practicality, but it’s a wonderful
magazine. In addition, he currently holds the Wallace Stegner
Chair in Western American Studies at Montana State University in
Bozeman. He lives in Bozeman with his wife, the conservationist
Betsy Gaines Quammen, and their menagerie of nonhuman
dependents. He travels when National Geographic says: Please
pack and go.