He has used the facilities of the Lizard Island Research Station to study carbonate-siliciclastic sediment interactions. He has also been working with other scientists to study how changes in the sea level affected the Pleistocene reefs along the continental shelf edge and slopes. Their 2011 paper concluded that (1) repeated slow amplitude sea level rises are favourable to reef development, providing space for vertical accretion; (2) low amplitude sea level falls are less detrimental than high-amplitude falls in terms of habitat compression; and (3) high amplitude sea level rises can cause reefs to ‘drown’.