He is a biogeochemist who studies chemical, physical and biological processes governing the cycling of elements in ecosystems. Prior to joining MIT, he was a scientist at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), where he supported several x-ray imaging and spectroscopy beamlines. Before SSRL, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Environmental Earth System Science at Stanford University. He received the Ph.D. in geological and environmental sciences in 2008 from Stanford University; his doctoral research focused on understanding the coupled biogeochemical-hydrogeologic processes releasing natural arsenic to Asian groundwaters. He received a B.S. in soil and environmental science and a B.S. in chemistry-biochemistry in 2000 and an M.S. in soil and environmental chemistry in 2002, all from Montana State University, Bozeman.