His research examines how enslaved Africans carried swimming, underwater diving, surfing, canoe-making, and canoeing skills to the Americas where they used these African traditions to help provide their lives with a sense of meaning and purpose. He is the author of the recently published book, Undercurrents of Power, Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora. He has published articles on the swimming and surfing abilities of African-descended people in both Atlantic Africa and the Americas, and his essay “Surfing Beyond Racial and Colonial Imperatives in Early Modern Atlantic Africa and Oceania” appears in The Critical Surf Studies Reader.