About

My research is about the interplay of politics, public policy, and public management. I work mainly on American environmental policy design, evaluation, and implementation. This line of research includes explorations of public vs. private utility management, and regulatory implementation as a matter of environmental justice. On the public management side, my work emphasizes professional labor markets as and predictors of innovation and organizational performance. My 2011 book Bureaucratic Ambition (Johns Hopkins University Press), argues that career concerns shape organizational innovation and democratic governance. My 2022 book The Profits of Distrust (with Samantha Zuhlke & David Switzer, Cambridge University Press) links the rise of the commercial drinking water industry to distrust in government and a broader withdrawal from civic life. More of my peer-reviewed research has appeared in Public Administration Review, Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory, Policy Studies Journal, the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Public Policy, and other academic journals. New and ongoing projects include a new book on ideological composition of the public sector workforce, report cards for drinking water utilities, and several studies on democratic governance institutions for drinking water and wastewater.

Perhaps my most challenging and exciting work is my applied research on water and sewer utility management, policy, and finance. I've published extensively in Journal AWWA, Water Environment & Technology, AWWA Water Science, and other water-related outlets. My most recent book is Safe Drinking Water Act: The Next Fifty Years (2026, Palgrave Macmillan), an edited volume published Open Access as part of my work with the the Water & Health Advisory Council. I’ve served on expert advisory panels to state governments, UNICEF/World Health Organization, the American Water Works Association, and dozens of local governments. I work directly with government, community, and industry leaders to improve water affordability, equity, and regulatory implementation. In recognition of this applied work, I was named one of the inaugural Hydro20 and received the Donald R. Boyd Award from the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies in 2025. 

I’m lucky to have a classic Jesuit education at Seattle University. A Truman Scholarship sent me to Cornell for a MPA, and I earned a PhD in Public Policy & Political Science at the Ford School at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!).