Wade Davis

Wade Davis studied at Harvard University and Brentwood College School. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is cultural anthropology and ethnobotany. Employment is recorded with University of British Columbia. Works named in the authority record are The Serpent and the Rainbow. Distinctions recorded are Baillie Gifford Prize, Member of the Order of Canada and David Fairchild Medal.

• Name — Wade Davis • Birth Name — Edmund Wade Davis • Born — 14 December 1953 • Birthplace — West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • Spouse — Gail Percy • Children — 2 • Website — https: daviswade.com/ • Education — Harvard University (Ph.D.) • Workplaces — University of British Columbia • Notable Works — The Serpent and the Rainbow (1985)

Davis was born in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He holds degrees in anthropology and biology, and earned his Ph.D. in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University. In 1974, at age 20, Davis crossed the Darién Gap on foot in the company of the English author and amateur explorer Sebastian Snow.

Beyond his scientific career, Davis is also an active writer, photographer, and filmmaker. He is a licensed river guide and has worked as a park ranger and forestry engineer.

Mostly through the Harvard Botanical Museum, he spent three years in the Amazon and Andes as a plant explorer, living among fifteen indigenous groups in eight Latin American nations, while making some 6,000 botanical collections. He conducted ethnographic fieldwork among several indigenous societies of northern Canada. His work later took him to Haiti to investigate folk preparations implicated in the creation of zombies, an assignment that led to his writing Passage of Darkness (1988) and The Serpent and the Rainbow (1986), a bestseller. The book was used loosely as the basis of a Wes Craven horror film, The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988). Other books by Davis include Penan: Voice for the Borneo Rain Forest (1990), Nomads of the Dawn (1995), One River (1996), which was nominated for the 1997 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction, Shadows in the Sun (1998),The Clouded Leopard (1998), Rainforest (1998), Light at the Edge of the World (2001), The Lost Amazon (2004), Grand Canyon (2008), Book of Peoples of the World (ed. 2008). His books have been translated into 14 languages He has published 1800 articles on subjects from Haitian Vodo, Amazonian myth and religion, the traditional use of psychotropic drugs, the ethnobotany of South American Indians, as well as, how COVID-19 has signaled the end of the American era. Davis has written for National Geographic, Newsweek, Premiere, Outside, Omni, Harpers, Fortune, Men's Journal, Condé Nast Traveler, Natural History, Scientific American, National Geographic Traveler, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, Rolling Stone, and numerous other international publications. Davis is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP). Davis served as Explorer-in-Residence with the National Geographic Society from 2000 to 2013. Davis' 2012 book Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest won the Baillie Gifford Prize (formerly the Samuel Johnson prize) for non-fiction. His account weaves together the three Everest expeditions in 1922, 1923 and 1924, set in the shadow of the Great War, by finding "a unifying thread in the person of George Mallory, the scatter-brained Adonis and Bloomsbury favourite whose fate would enthral the nation," wrote John Keay in Literary Review.

An honorary research associate of the Institute of Economic Botany of the New York Botanical Garden, he is a Fellow of the Linnean Society, a Fellow of the Explorer's Club, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Davis was a founding board member of the David Suzuki Foundation and completed a six-year term on the board of the Banff Centre, a Canadian institution for the arts. He has served on the board of directors since 2009 for the Amazon Conservation Association, whose mission is to conserve the biological diversity of the Amazon. In 2009, he delivered the CBC Massey Lectures, Canada's most prestigious public intellectual forum. He is a member of the International Advisory Board, Hunt Consolidated, PLNG, and has also been engaged in Journey to Zero, a three-year campaign sponsored by Nissan and TBWA to support zero emission vehicles.

Davis is married. He and his wife, Gail Percy, have lived in several places, sometimes with concurrent residences in Washington, D.C., Vancouver, the Stikine Valley of northern British Columbia, and Bowen Island. They have two adult daughters, Tara and Raina. On April 13, 2018, Davis was granted Colombian nationality and citizenship by President Juan Manuel Santos.

* • 1997 edition retitled: The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist's Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombies, and Magic. * • Davis, Wade and Thom Henley (1990), Penan Voice for the Borneo Rain Forest, Western Canada Wilderness. • Davis, Wade (1991), The Art of Shamanic Healing, Cross Cultural Shamanism Network. * • (Published in Canada as The Clouded Leopard: A Book of Travels, Douglas & McIntyre, 1998.) * * * * * * • Davis, Wade, The Unraveling of America, Rolling Stone, August 6, 2020 - (how COVID-19 signals the end of the American era) * *

• Davis, Wade and K. David Harrison (2008) Book of Peoples of the World: A Guide to Cultures, National Geographic, (2nd edition).

• Earthguide (1991). Cinetel Productions for the Discovery Channel. 13-part documentary on environmental issues. Davis was host and co-writer. • "The Spirit of the Mask" (1992). Produced by Gryphon Productions. 1992. Davis was host and co-writer. 1 hour documentary. • "Cry of the Forgotten Land" (1993). 1 hour documentary on the Moi people of West Papua, New Guinea. Davis was narrator/co-writer • "The Explorer" Life and Times (2002). Produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) DVD by Monarch Films. 1 hour biographical documentary. • "Grand Canyon: River at Risk" (2008). 3D IMAX, MacGillivray Freeman Films. Davis was principal character. • Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey (2008). Produced in collaboration with Gryphon Productions. Filmed on location in New Mexico, Oaxaca, and lowland Ecuador. Two-hour special for the History Channel-based Davis's books One River (1996) and The Lost Amazon (2004). DVD available, A&E Television Network. Davis was host/co-writer/co-producer. • Light at the Edge of the World: Science of the Mind (2007). Directed by Andrew Gregg, produced by Davis and Andrew Gregg for National Geographic. • The Path of the Anaconda (2019). Directed by Alessandro Ángulo Brandestini, the documentary follows Davis as he travels to Colombia with anthropologist Martín von Hildebrand following the footsteps of Richard Evans Schultes.

• Illustration — Wade Davis on Bookbits radio. • Davis's research into "Haitian Zombies" was explored in an episode of Science Channel's Dark Matters: Twisted But True. • Davis's research into "Haitian Zombies" was mentioned in an episode of CUNY TV's Science Goes to the Movies. • Davis's research into "Haitian Zombies" was referenced in the X-Files episode "Fresh Bones," season 2, episode 15.