We welcome back our Club president for another one of his engaging talks. Hawaii is one of the most intriguing places on the planet. A Pacific island chain that shouldn't be there. The most isolated populated area in the world. Tropical islands (with snow capped mountains) that are part of the USA but don't feel like it. Safe to live on but with continuous volcanic activity. The place where WWII started for America, and where its end is commemorated. A tropical island paradise with a tourist beach culture, but is also the seventh wettest place on Earth. The western outpost of the US with Asia, with observatories tracking objects in space. Its clear air and high mountains make it the world standard in monitoring air quality and atmospheric gases.

Come and explore this unique and fascinating area. Come to Pearl Harbour and meet one of its survivors, see its exciting volcanic activity, learn how its diversity and mix of cultures means it sees itself as apart from Trump's America, enjoy the (endangered) wildlife, and learn what it's like to live in a place with a huge diversity of culture and geography.

David has been a professional mountain walks leader. He graduated from Edinburgh University with honours geology and worked as an expedition science leader in Botswana and the Yukon.

He has worked as a ranger in the Grand Canyon National Park, and on a biodiversity survey of Montserrat as the volcanic eruptions started. He was the Director of Studies for Edinburgh University’s Global Environmental Change international summer school. David was for many years a lecturer in environmental sustainability for the University of Glasgow. He is a lecturer on the environment for the Open University and is also an advisor for Keele University's Earth Science Education Unit.

David has had many articles published in national journals and has contributed to Radio 4's Excess Baggage travel programme. In 2010 he was part of an expedition in the Pacific conducting seafloor research, and in 2013 participated in a Geological Society of America expedition to Antarctica. He has recently been appointed an earth science field studies guide for the Bay of Naples volcanic area (including Pompeii, Herculaneum and Vesuvius) and Iceland.

David's website can be found here.

Hawaii beach life

Staff at the Volcano House hotel

Hawaii is of great strategic value

Exploring a lava tube

Lava at night