Joining the university in 2011, he began an applied research, extension and teaching program in soil fertility and plant nutrition. An Illinois native, he received a B.S. in soil science from the University of Wisconsin‒Stevens Point while doing research in vegetable crop production. Attending the University of Wisconsin‒Madison, he earned an M.S. degree in horticulture, studying environmental stress physiology and thereafter, worked in the green industry before returning to the University of Wisconsin to obtain his Ph.D. in soil science and horticulture.