He is an active participant in the evolutionary developmental biology (EVO-DEVO) debate on the nature and mechanisms of animal body plan formation.
As such, the neural crest - in Hall's view - plays a role equivalent to that of the endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm of bilaterian development and is a definitive feature of vertebrates (as hypothesized by Gans and Northcutt[1983]).
His Ph.D. thesis, undertaken under the supervision of Patrick D. F. Murray, FAA (Fellow of the Australian Academy), concerned the differentiation of bone and secondary cartilage in chicken embryos.
"Hall's understanding of the intellectual roots of his discipline," one source observes, "deepens his perspective on current theoretical issues and colors much of his writing.
"[4] Hall has spent his career in the Biology Department of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he was hired as an assistant professor in 1968.
It addresses the role of the germ layers in early embryogenesis, the development of nervous systems, and the evolution of the vertebrate head.
Daniel E. Lieberman of Harvard called the book "comprehensive, diverse and stimulating...a must-read for anyone interested in development and evolution...a tour-de-force treatment of a critical subject.
[13] In a review for Science, Alan C. Love wrote that "Fins into Limbs is an exploration of a longstanding evolutionary puzzle associated with the origin of tetrapods and the vertebrate invasion of land.
Love called the book "handsomely executed and also timely...a necessary reference and a worthy guide to future research on this and other evolutionary transitions.
"[14] Mark W. Hamrick, in the Journal of Mammal Evolution, wrote that "in driving a new era of research in skeletal biology, Fins into Limbs is a great success."
Michael J. Benton, in Evolution and Development, called the book "essential reading for a broad range of natural scientists, from embryologists to paleontologists, and geneticists to philosophers."
"[15] Hall and Benedikt Hallgrimsson wrote Epigenetics: Linking Genotype and Phenotype in Development and Evolution (University of California Press, 2011).