His PhD is in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His professional experiences are in the fields of civil engineering, water resources, systems analysis, ecology/ecohydrology, and engineering research and education in an interdisciplinary university setting. His research interests fall broadly in the area of the quantification and management of complex coupled natural-human systems, including regional water and climate systems strongly influenced by the human economy and society- such as in cities, energy, and agriculture.