He received his Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology from the University of Guelph (Canada) in 1985, and his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba in 1993, after which he conducted post-doctoral research at the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has conducted research on large lakes around the world, including the North American Great Lakes, lakes in South America, and the Great Lakes of East Africa, where he and his family lived for seven years. His work focuses on the interactions among physical, chemical and biological properties of large lakes. Current research projects include the causes and consequences of nuisance algal growth in Lake Michigan, energy flow in large temperate and tropical lakes, and the influence of non-indigenous species on nutrient cycles and food web structure in Lake Michigan.