[6] He was a frequent contributor to the Research News & Opportunities in Science and Theology publication for the John Templeton Foundation (JTF) and has been a multiple grant recipient.

He is the author of three books, two on naval history: Admirals and Empire,[8] and The Burning of Falmouth,[9] and Species of Origins: America’s Search for a Creation Story[10] with coauthor Karl Giberson.

Admirals was described as "solidly researched, clearly and economically written, and intelligently conceived... a useful synthesis filling a gap in the existing literature,"[11] Species of Origins was widely reviewed as a uniquely even-handed and concise contribution to the scholarship on the creation–evolution controversy in the United States.

"[13] Professor of science Michael Ruse described it as “a simply invaluable primer on the subject that should be made compulsory reading for all who have ever thought on science-and-religion ...

And he has also two edited other volumes: British Abolitionism, Moral Progress, and Big Questions in History (University of South Carolina Press, 2012) and Religion and Innovation: Antagonists or Partners (Bloomsbury, 2016).