Dave has a BS and MA in physical geography and geology, a PhD in environmental geography-environmental policy, and more than twenty-five years experience as a consulting hydrologist and hydrogeologist on problems concerning water supply and quality, solid and hazardous waste, and hardrock and coal mining.

He is also the author of Wounding the West: Montana, Mining and the Environment (University of Nebraska Press 2000). Dave has taught at University of Colorado-Boulder.