David Gibson studied maths and engineering at Cambridge University and was president of the university’s caving club in 1979-80. By profession an electronic design engineer, he has also been the technical editor of the journal of the British Cave Research Association’s Cave Radio and Electronics Group (CREG). His many articles on cave radio and related cave-electronics topics have provided a firm and unique basis for further studies in this area. His PhD thesis from the University of Leeds was a study of through-the-earth radio, which has been published as Channel Characterisation and System Design for Sub-Surface Communications. The companion volume is a collection of essays, reprinted from the CREG journal. David Gibson worked for ten years in the UK’s Mines Rescue Service in its research and consultancy division. He is currently (2016) a senior research fellow at the University of Exeter's Camborne School of Mines.