He received his PhD in History from the University of Texas at Austin in May, 2015. His current book project documents the origins of the early modern drug trade, with a particular focus on the Portuguese and British empires. Other interests include the global history of science and medicine, environmental histories of the tropics, and the history of magic. He has published articles in The Journal of Early Modern History, the Journal of Early American History, and History Compass, and contributed essays to Slate, The Atlantic, Aeon, The Paris Review Daily, and The Appendix.