David is a second year doctoral student in Michigan State University 's Department of Sociology and the Environmental Science and Policy Program. He is a research assistant to Dr. Thomas Dietz, examining climate change and decision-making under uncertainty. David's primary research interests include dynamics of identity in deliberative decision-making processes. Other recent research projects include a survey of preferences for climate change mitigation policies, a survey of public participation professionals' goals, and a review of risk perception and political ecology themes in bison management conflicts at Yellowstone National Park .

David earned a B.Phil. from the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Miami University in 1991, and in 1998, he received his M.S. in Natural Resource Policy and Behavior from the University of Michigan 's School of Natural Resources and Environment. While at SNRE, David conducted interviews for Dr. Julia Wondolleck's study of collaborative decision making at the U.S. Forest Service, and, as part of a multidisciplinary masters project on exurban development, he carried out a Conceptual Content Cognitive Mapping exercise with stakeholders from a Southeast Michigan township. Following graduation, he became a research associate at the National Center for Environmental Decision-Making Research and managed the qualitative data analysis for a study of endangered species habitat conservation planning.

From 1999 to 2005, David consulted on environmental decision making and public participation processes at private consulting firms in Philadelphia and Northern Virginia . Clients included the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. David is a certified trainer for the International Association of Public Participation and a roster member for the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution.