He has published and presented papers and workshops on Teaching English as a Second Language, Literacy, and Multicultural Education in a variety of U.S. and international venues. His current research revolves around different types of semiotic literacies for the completion of specific goal-oriented activity. Before his life in higher education, John spent four years in the U.S. Navy and fifteen seasons on coastal and deep-sea commercial fishing boats in the Northern Pacific, Gulf of Alaska, and Bering Sea.