He earned his Ph.D. in Agronomy from Cornell University and worked as a postdoctoral scholar at the Kellogg Biological Station at Michigan State University and at the University of California, Davis. His research and outreach program covers a range of topics, including nutrient management, soil health methodology, perennial grain cropping systems and cover crops. His overall research goal is to improve soil fertility and nutrient management through practices that enrich nutrient cycling, active organic matter pools and soil health. As the state specialist in soil fertility, he conducts extensive on-farm research with a wide variety of growers.