He completed his Ph.D. in communication at Penn State, and his M.A. and B. A. at York University in Toronto. He is a former fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, and a founding member of the International Environmental Communication Association and Carleton Climate Commons. He serves on the editorial boards of Environmental Communication, Science and Environmental Communication, and the Canadian Journal of Communication, and on the advisory boards of Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication, and Communication Undisciplined.