He earned his PhD from the University of Nevada for work on the conservation benefits of managing California’s rice fields for wetland birds. His work focuses on the conservation ecology of birds, especially in wetland and agricultural settings. Recently, he has worked on the population dynamics and management of endangered waterbirds, and on the ecology and conservation of saltmarsh nesting birds. His work on Saltmarsh Sparrows earned a 2004 National Investigators Award by Partners in Flight. He was a co-editor of the Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior.