About the World Waterfall Database

The World Waterfall Database was established to provide a complete, accurate record of the waterfalls throughout the world, largely because such a record had not ever been established. Looking in any freely available Encyclopedia, entries for Waterfall usually yield a short list of well known or well publicized waterfalls but the lists are far from complete and usually rife with inaccuracies due to the data never having been field checked. Most people are unaware of these discrepancies because experts in the field have not readily been able to verify the data on such a wide basis.

After decades of independent research and futile efforts to keep their data accurate, co-founders Bryan Swan and Dean Goss established an online database to keep track of the worlds tallest and most volumnous waterfalls in 2002. The data slowly grew to record almost 1000 of the world’s most noteable waterfalls but until 2008 had never been designed as a record for all of the data which had been compiled outside of the previously established constraints. With the advent of programs such as Google Earth, and various online mapping tools, not only can the worlds waterfalls now easily be mapped, but the data can be easily translated to a user friendly interface and a complete record of all the waterfalls on the planet can now be undertaken. This project will most certainly take decades, if not centuries to complete, because the true extent of the waterfalls on the planet has never been probed, but the record has now been established for future generations.

About the Founders

Bryan Swan works full time as a web development professional, and is an avid photographer and waterfall hunter in the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised in Seattle Washington, Bryan has been exposed to the outdoors – and waterfalls in particular – for most of his life. His earliest memories include road trips with his parents to North Cascades National Park, where many waterfalls are seen. In 1998, in his Sophomore year in High School, Bryan was first exposed to web programming, as well as solidified his interest in photography. In the following years Bryan launched the Northwest Waterfall Survey and established himself as one of the foremost authorities on the subject.

Dean Goss is the creator and webmaster of Waterfalls of the Northeastern United States. Dean remembers waterfalls from a very early age, when his parents took him to Bristol Memorial Park in Bristol Vermont. When he and his family moved to California in 1972, he visited Yosemite National Park, and his waterfall obsession was made permanent. After moving back to Vermont, Dean continued to research any and every possible source for information on waterfalls. In 1996, his website was first put online, and has since grown to one of the largest of its kind on the internet. Dean is currently authoring “A Guide to the Waterfalls of Vermont” and plans further books in a series documenting the waterfalls in New England.

Bryan Swan and Dean Goss are considered to be among the world’s foremost authorities on the subject of waterfalls. They have worked as consultants to several authors on the subject, as well as photographers. Between 2004 and 2007 they served as consultants to renowned Japanese photographer Yoshikazu Shirakawa, working closely on his project “The World’s Hundred Greatest Waterfalls” in an advisory roll.