David Scott Silverberg is an expert in Vietnam and Southeast Asia geography, conservation biology, and environmental studies. Beginning in 1995, he has researched and taught in Vietnam and Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific directing research and education expeditions in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.
Born in New York City, he has lived most of his life in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, working in over 125 countries. He is an active explorer of mountain, coastal, and tropical forests for 45 years. David received his Ph.D. from MIT and his post-Doc from Harvard University. He is a fellow of The Explorers Club, the Royal Geographical Society, and the Royal Asiatic Society. David is a passionate experiential educator designing, managing and teaching in university graduate and undergraduate field programs in Southeast Asia and around the world for Boston University, University of Connecticut, Humboldt State University, Organization for Tropical Studies, Center for Inter-American Studies, University of Alaska-Anchorage, Semester at Sea-University of Pittsburgh, and Colorado School of Mines. He was executive Director of Earthwatch Institute Center for Field Research and was the founding Associate Director for Environmental Programs in the White House for the Commission and then the Corporation for National and Community Service-AmeriCorps. He has served as an expert on travel programs for 20 years with the likes of MIT Alumni Travel, National Geographic Expeditions, Orion Expeditions, and Smithsonian Journeys.
David's research, supported by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration, and the American Alpine Club, resulted in numerous peer-reviewed papers on the formation of mountain regions around the world. His work and lectures explore geographic determinants of culture/history and global change issues of biodiversity loss, land cover change, global warming, and ocean changes. He researches the geographic variation of Southeast Asia and Indo-Pacific literature, art, and architecture.
David is fond of the Vietnamese cuisine and lectures on the natural history of traditional Vietnamese food. He lectures on the historical social contracts of Vietnam illuminating the current economic and political context. He is passionate about the challenges and opportunities in Vietnam and Southeast Asia's vast coastal zone and monsoon forest. David’s recent photography and journalistic essays on natural and cultural landscapes are published by National Geographic, Corriere della Sera, LaRepubblica, Meridiani Montagne, ARK Landscape Architecture, and Archi Espazium. For the last 10 years, he has lived seasonally in Milan, Italy and Oslo, Norway.
Language spoken: English