A marine and island geographer by training, Dr. Gilbert David  is Director of Research in the French Institute for Development (previously Orstom). He has extensive working experience on vulnerability and viability of island countries and territories, including Caribbean (Haiti, Martinique), Melanesia (New-Caledonia, Vanuatu), Western Indian Ocean (Comoros, Madagascar, Reunion). He was appointed as a member of the MASMA Program Committee in 2004. He was awarded WIOMSA fellow membership in 2009 in recognition of his outstanding work or significant contribution to coastal and marine science research in the region.