In 1914, he was hired by the Ontario Reformatory and later, with the outbreak of World War I, enlisted, serving three years in France with the Canadian Field Artillery.
After World War I, his interest in forest biology led him to enroll in the Ontario Agricultural College.
This led to his receiving an MS degree at Syracuse University's New York State College of Forestry in 1928.
His five half-hour radio lectures for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's University of the Air series in the spring of 1965 were essential in introducing the word "ecology" to the public.
He later served as the honorary president for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, one of the first modern Canadian environmental groups (established in 1969).