He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Anthropology at the University of Florida in 2011. His research focuses on issues of biodiversity management, agricultural sustainability, and long-term human-environmental interaction in Brazilian Amazonia. Currently, he is developing new research on how farmers in the American Midwest contend with climate variability through soil conservation strategies and agrobiodiversity management. His research has been published in such journals as Current Anthropology, Human Ecology, Economic Botany, and Human Organization.