David Lukas started biology studies at Reed College, but left college several times to spend much of the following 10 years traveling around the world working on biological research projects. These travels took him to Borneo for a year as part of a Harvard research team, and to the Peruvian Amazon under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. While in Borneo, David decided to become a writer and later spent several years working with the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder in the Sierra Nevada. After graduating with a degree in English from Reed College, David returned to the Sierra Nevada and devoted himself to writing and teaching about the natural world.