His research, prompted in part by his own family's experience of Hurricane Katrina,[4] explores how communities around the world respond to and recover from disaster.

[7] One of his main contributions has been the argument that social capital serves as the critical engine for post-disaster recovery and that these ties are more important than factors such as damage from the event, wealth, or investment in physical infrastructure.

[8] His work has been cited by organizations such as Facebook, the Red Cross, NYC Emergency Management, the Legal Services Corporation, the Israeli legislature, and the City Club of Portland in their focus on the role of social ties during disaster.

(1996) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar (highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa).

[22] In the fall of 2008 he began work as an assistant professor of political science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.