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David Quammen

デイヴィッド・クアメン

David Quammen

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1948-02-24 （Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Cincinnati, Ohio (birth) → Bozeman, Montana (long-term residence)

Career

Occupations
writer, science writer, nature writer, travel writer, professor
Active Years
1970-2025
Affiliations
Montana State University (Wallace Stegner Professor position)
Influenced By
William Faulkner (studied)
Nominations
PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award (shortlisted, 2013)

Education

Yale University
Undergraduate / Literature / English
Degree: BA
Period: 1966–1970
Year of Graduation: 1970
Country: United States
Received Rhodes Scholarship and proceeded to Oxford
University of Oxford
Graduate (Literature) / American literature (including study of Faulkner)
Degree: BLitt
Period: 1970–?
Country: United Kingdom
Attended as a Rhodes Scholar

Awards

Rhodes Scholarship
1970
Organization: Rhodes Trust
Result: recipient
National Magazine Award
1987
Organization: ASME (American Society of Magazine Editors)
Result: winner
Guggenheim Fellowship
1988
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: fellow
Academy Award in Literature (American Academy of Arts and Letters)
1996
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: recipient
Natural World Book Prize
1996
Work: The Song of the Dodo
Organization: Natural World (organizers)
Result: winner
John Burroughs Medal
1997
Work: The Song of the Dodo
Category: 自然文学
Organization: John Burroughs Association
Result: winner
Lannan Literary Award / Fellowship
1997
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: fellow
Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism
1997
Organization: New York Public Library
Result: winner
PEN/Spielvogel-Diamonstein Award for the Art of the Essay
2001
Work: The Boilerplate Rhino
Category: エッセイ
Organization: PEN America
Result: winner
The Stephen Jay Gould Prize
2012
Organization: Society for the Study of Evolution
Result: recipient
Science in Society Book Award
2013
Work: Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic
Category: 科学ノンフィクション
Organization: National Association of Science Writers (NASW)
Result: winner
Royal Society of Biology Book Award (General Biology)
2013
Work: Spillover
Category: 一般生物学
Organization: Royal Society of Biology
Result: winner
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction (finalist)
2013
Work: Spillover
Category: ノンフィクション
Organization: American Library Association / Carnegie Medal
Result: finalist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions

1996 nature writing / science non-fiction

A long-form nonfiction study of island biogeography, extinction, and conservation, interweaving ecological and evolutionary history with case studies.

extinctionisland biogeographyconservation biology

Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic

2012 science non-fiction

Examines the mechanisms and history of zoonotic spillover, combining field reporting and scientific explanation; won several science book awards in 2013.

zoonotic diseaseepidemiologywildlife and disease

The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life

2019 science non-fiction (evolution)

A narrative of molecular biology and the evolving concept of the tree of life, explaining how discoveries like horizontal gene transfer have changed our view of life's history.

evolutionmolecular biologyphylogenetics

Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus

2022 science non-fiction

Follows recent virology research and its clinical and scientific challenges, portraying the scientific efforts to combat deadly viruses.

virologypublic healthscience and society

The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution

2006 biography / history of science

A biographical study of Charles Darwin that explores his life and the development of his theory within its personal and scientific context.

biographyhistory of evolutionhistory of science

Bibliography

  • Natural Acts: a Sidelong View of Science and Nature (1985)
  • The Flight of the Iguana (1988)
  • The Song of the Dodo (1996)
  • Wild Thoughts From Wild Places (1999)
  • The Boilerplate Rhino (2001)
  • Monster of God (2003)
  • The Reluctant Mr. Darwin (2006)
  • Spillover (2012)
  • Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus (2014)
  • The Chimp and the River (2015)
  • Yellowstone (2016)
  • The Tangled Tree (2019)
  • Breathless (2022)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
journalistic science non-fiction with field reportingclear, explanatory prosenarrative-driven science explanation
Recurring Motifs
evolution and phylogenybiodiversity and extinctionintersection of wildlife and human activityon-the-ground field reporting

Legacy

David Quammen is highly regarded for bringing science and natural history to general readers. His body of work, combining fieldwork with scientific explanation on topics like ecology, evolution, and epidemiology, has influenced both academic and public audiences.

Museums

  • Southwest Collection / Special Collections Library (Texas Tech University) Lubbock, Texas — Texas Tech University

Academic Societies

  • Society for the Study of Evolution

Archives

  • Texas Tech University Southwest Collection (author papers and archives)

Trivia

  • Awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1970 to study at Oxford.
  • Long-term resident of Bozeman, Montana; married to Betsy Gaines Quammen.
  • Author papers and research materials are housed at Texas Tech University.