David Adam is a fourth-generation Californian with over 40 years of experience working on Clear Lake. He holds a BA degree in anthropology from Harvard and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Geosciences from the University of Arizona. Notably, he was the first person to develop a fossil pollen record from postglacial deposits in California.

For 25 years, David served as a Research Geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, where he achieved the significant feat of creating a climatic history for Clear Lake spanning the last full glacial cycle, covering a period of 130,000 years. Since his move to Lake County in 1998, he has contributed his expertise to various organizations, including the Lake County Air Quality Management District, the UC Davis Clear Lake Environmental Research Center, and Mendocino College. At the latter institution, he taught physical geology for 15 years.

David is recognized as a Life Member of prestigious organizations such as the Freshwater Biological Association, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, and The Ecological Society of America. A comprehensive list of his numerous scientific publications can be found online at www.quercus.org.