While he has very broad interests in both basic and applied science, most of his research comes back to actionable science involving the conservation, management, or restoration of wadeable streams and their biota. His work has substantively contributed to recovery and management plan actions for protecting rare, threatened, and endangered species; the delisting of an endangered species; and additional legal protections to Maryland's coldwater streams. Much of his current research involves the responses of fish, aquatic invertebrates, and overall stream ecological condition to land use and landscape change, including stream restorations. He is also very involved in developing and testing applications from high throughput, next generation DNA sequencing data for stream monitoring and assessment.