Kay has examined how similar types of self-organization can occur within living systems at the level of individual organisms and ecosystems.
[4][5] Kay was an associate professor of environment and resource studies at the University of Waterloo, with cross-appointments in systems design engineering, geography, management sciences, and the School of Planning.
He served on the Long Term Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Panel of the Royal Society of Canada.
[2] Kay was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Beijer Institute, Working Group on Complex Ecological Economic Systems Modeling.
He was also an active member of the United States National Science Foundation Advisory Committee on Environmental Research and Education.