Between the years of 2013 – 2016, Dr. Hewins was a postdoctoral fellow at the Rangeland Research Institute in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, Canada. In this role he worked alongside researchers and government personnel to measure and report the effect of livestock grazing on carbon and nutrient cycling in the grasslands of central and southern Alberta. In 2013, he received his PhD in Ecology from the Biology Department at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM, USA. His dissertation research focused carbon and nutrient cycling in desert grasslands, and in particular the effect of shrub encroachment and associated soil redistribution on leaf litter decomposition.