Wade Davis served as Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society (2000-2013) and Professor of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (2014-2024). His 24 books, published in 23 languages, include the international bestsellers The Serpent and the Rainbow (1985), One River (1996), The Wayfinders (2007), and Into the Silence (2011), winner of the 2012 Samuel Johnson Prize, the top nonfiction award in the English language; recent books include Magdalena: River of Dreams (2020) and Beneath the Surface of Things (2024).

One of 20 Honorary Members of the Explorers Club, Davis is the recipient of 12 honorary degrees, as well as the 2009 Gold Medal from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the 2011 Explorers Medal, the 2012 David Fairchild Medal for botanical exploration, the 2015 Centennial Medal of Harvard University, the 2017 Roy Chapman Andrews Society’s Distinguished Explorer Award, the 2017 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration, and the 2018 Mungo Park Medal from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

A Member of the Order of Canada, he became in 2018 an Honorary Citizen of Colombia.