Wade Davis

The Wade Davis keynotes draw deeply from travel experiences to engage audiences in the need to preserve indigenous cultures and Amazonian fauna.

The ethnographer, photographer, filmmaker, writer, journalist, river guide and forest engineer attended Harvard University for a bachelor's degree in anthropology and biology and a Ph.D. in ethnobotany. He has travelled extensively as a plant explorer, indigenous group dweller and researcher to places like East Africa, Haiti, Nunvaut, Peru and Nepal.

Writing extensively about experiences from his travels, he has written for several journals, including Newsweek, National Geographic and Natural History. His extensive research gives him expertise on Haitian vodoun, Amazonian myth and the use of psychotrophic drugs. His exotic travels have also spurred him to take up photography, which is featured extensively in dozens of books and magazines, exhibiting in the International Center of Photography and earning stay as a collection in the Africa and Latin America Bureaus.

When he is not immersed in the rough of the Amazon, Davis is a professional speaker with a portfolio that includes Microsoft, the Royal Geographical Society, International Baccalaureate, Harvard and the TED Conference. He was a founding board member of the David Suzuki Foundation and has served as a Board of Directors since 2009 of the Amazon Conservation Association.

Currently, Davis is participating in the zero emission vehicle campaign, 'Journey to Zero,' and is a member of the International Advisory Board. He just completed the second season of Light at the Edge of the World for National Geographic.

As the Wade Davis keynotes unveil, the world is truly complex outside of our suburban bubbles and more efforts should be made to appreciate the beauty that goes unnoticed.