David B. Williams is a freelance writer in Seattle. Originally raised in Seattle, he went to college in Colorado where he initially studied physics but switched to geology (a smart move). He received a Bachelor of Arts in geology from Colorado College in 1987 was then hired by the Canyonlands Field Institute in Moab, Utah. This led to a job as an Interpretive Park Ranger at Arches National Park and then in Boston while his wife attended graduate school in 1997. He must have heard Horace Greely’s admonition of Go West Young Couple, and they returned to Seattle where he became a well-established writer of natural history books and occasional urban geology tour guide. Since 1999, he had been associated with Seattle’s Burke Museum in their education department.
David B. Williams writes on the intersection of people and the natural world. His books include: Stories in Stone: Travels Through Urban Geology; The Seattle Street-Smart Naturalist: Field Notes from the City; Cairns: Messengers in Stone; and Too High & Too Steep. He maintains the blog GeologyWriter.com from his home base in Seattle. David says his interest in urban geology was sparked by the use of stone in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel.
David Williams has been a frequent and interesting speaker for our lecture series (see events on 3/2/13, 11/7/15 and 5/11/19). In 2019 he announced that Stories in Stone has been republished by UW Press (https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295746456/stories-in-stone/. In addition, he continues to run has Geology walks through Seattle on a regular basis. If interested, contact him for dates and cost. (Updated Oct. 2021)
