He earned a Ph.D. in Resource Development and Urban Studies from Michigan State University in 2005. His dissertation focused on volcanic disaster recovery in Montserrat, British West Indies. He earned a M.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of Illinois at Springfield. His thesis focused on the flood-related relocation of Valmeyer, Illinois, due to the 1993 Mississippi River Floods. Prior to joining the Western Illinois University faculty in 2009, he was a faculty member in at the University of North Texas in the Emergency Administration and Planning Program. Prior to academia, he worked in the areas of hazard mitigation planning, land use planning, regional planning, university-based cooperative extension, and urban community development Lansing and Detroit Michigan.