He serves as Extension Program Team Lead for Water Resources and coordinates development and implementation of numerous Extension projects, including South Carolina's Certified Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control Inspector program. Sawyer routinely provides water quality and stormwater-related information to various clientele groups, including homeowners, community and government officials, public works and planning staffs, engineers, landscape architects, developers, contractors, and other professional decision-makers. His applied research interests include sediment-bacteria dynamics, turbidity reduction, low impact development and watershed management.