Lucyan David "Dave" Mech (born January 18, 1937) is an American wolf expert, a senior research scientist for the U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (since 1970), and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. He has researched wolves since 1958 in places such as Minnesota, Canada, Italy, Alaska, Yellowstone National Park, and on Isle Royale. Mech is the founder of the International Wolf Center and sits on its Board of Directors as Vice Chair.