David Montgomery
Professor, Department of Earth & Space Sciences
Flooding and landslides
Expertise: Dirt formation, transport, movement, geology, soil health
David Montgomery is a geomorphologist who looks at the process shaping Earth’s surface and how they affect ecological systems—and human societies. He has studied everything from the ways that landslides and glaciers influence the height of mountain ranges, to the way that soils have shaped human civilizations both now and in the past. He has worked in mountain ranges throughout the world, from the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest, to the Andes in South America and Tibet and the Himalaya in Central Asia.
In addition to his academic work, he has written a number of popular science books, most recently on the role of regenerative farming on soil and human health. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and awards include a MacArthur Fellowship, the Vega Medal and several Washington State Book Awards.
