David MacDonald

David has had a varied career as a geologist in some of the most remote parts of the world.  He grew up on the edge of the Scottish Highlands, leaving him with a lifelong love of wild places and a serious interest in rock.  He graduated in geology from Glasgow University and joined the British Antarc-tic Survey (BAS) as a geologist, working on the island of South Georgia for two long field seasons and gaining a PhD from Cambridge for his research. 

David rejoined BAS as a team leader, doing five more Antarctic expeditions: three in the Antarctic Peninsula and two in the Transantarctic Mountains.  He reached the South Pole, courtesy of the US Navy (but not by ship) and was awarded a Polar Medal in 1987. In the 1990s, he was Chief Geologist of an Arctic research organization based in Cambridge University. He managed frontier projects across the globe, with personal expeditions to Spitsbergen, Siberia, Sakhalin, Patagonia, and the Falklands.