David Jurney received his B.A. Anthropology from Appalachian State University in 1973; his M.A. Anthropology from the University of Arkansas in 1978; and his PhD Anthropology from Southern Methodist University in 2001, with dissertation entitled Diaspora of the Alabama-Koasati Indians Across Southeastern North America. His career spans 44 years, with specialties in paleoenvironmental reconstruction, geoarchaeology, and landscape archaeology. Since joining the US Forest Service in 1995, he has an additional 13 years of experience in wildland firefighting and prescribed fire treatments. He retired as Heritage Program Manager/Tribal Liaison for the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests in Arkansas in 2018. On 23 May 2018, Dr. Jurney received the Tribal Relations Award for Lifetime Achievement from the USDA Forest Service Office of Tribal Relations.