Previously he was a social and economic policy analyst at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He also fished commercially off Alaska from 1979 to 1983. His research interests are broadly focused on the interconnections between natural resource management (especially marine resources), environmental history, and political ecology. He is particularly interested in the role of institutional arrangements and culture in resource management. Current projects are focused on distributional issues involving access to marine resources property rights in marine fisheries, the role of place and community in property rights reformations, and linkages between marine resources and community development.