The University of British Columbia has snagged a noted ethnographer and world traveller as its newest faculty member.

Today (December 18), UBC announced that National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence Wade Davis is joining its department of anthropology as a professor and the Museum of Anthropology as a research associate.

Born in Vancouver and now living on Bowen Island, Davis will arrive at the Liu Institute for Global Issues in July 2014.

“I am thrilled to return to British Columbia to join a university so committed to advancing the understanding and celebration of the world’s cultures, ecosystems and biological heritage,” Davis said in a news release. “I feel honoured to have this chance to collaborate with so many inspired UBC colleagues and the broader community to advance these crucial issues on a global stage.”

The Harvard University-educated Davis has authored numerous books, including Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest, which won the 2012 Samuel Johnson Prize, and The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World.

While he's lectured at many universities around the world, and holds honorary degrees from the University of Victoria and the University of Northern British Columbia, this is the first time Davis has been appointed a professor.

“Very few public intellectuals have the experience and command the respect that Wade Davis does to weigh in on the critical decisions facing our province and nation,” Gage Averill, dean of UBC’s faculty of arts, said in the same release. “Wade Davis will bring his uniquely valuable and interdisciplinary contributions to educating the next generation of students of cultural and environmental sustainability. We are thrilled that he has chosen UBC as his home base for this next phase of his career.”