Research and Collaboration
Movement, Ecological Systems, and Cross-Cultural Contexts
My research examines how movement-based and embodied practices function as structured environments for learning, adaptation, and perceptual refinement. Working at the intersection of ecological approaches to learning, qualitative inquiry, and cross-cultural practice, I investigate how individuals develop adaptive expertise in complex and asymmetrical environments.
I collaborate with universities, research centers, and practitioner communities on interdisciplinary projects that integrate conceptual rigor with sustained lived practice. I am also available on a selective basis for commissioned research, applied consultancy, and visiting scholar appointments — see Available for below.
Questions?
Please contact me for more information.
Research Focus Areas
My current research program organizes around three interrelated focus areas, each of which is producing peer-reviewed scholarship and continues to develop through collaboration.
1. Ecological Learning & Adaptive Expertise
How do perception and action couple in complex environments? Building on James Gibson’s ecological approach and extensions in nonlinear pedagogy and ecological dynamics, I examine how affordances, constraints, and perception-action coupling shape learning in dynamic and uncertain contexts. My recent work extends these concepts into asymmetrical encounters, where standard ecological vocabulary becomes strained — introducing the construct of field-limiting as an emergent ecological condition.
2. Movement Science and Embodied Learning
How do adult Western learners come to embody principles of holistic movement from Asian mind-body disciplines? Drawing on Roy and colleagues’ (2025) biotensegrity framework and Ben Spatz’s (2017) theory of technique as knowledge, my collaborative work examines biotensegrity through the lens of two practitioner-scholars learning Japanese and Chinese martial arts — extending biotensegrity from biomechanics into embodied learning and physical cultures.
3. Cross-Cultural Transmission of Embodied Disciplines
How do embodied practices shift when transmitted across cultural contexts? Building on research such as Bowman’s (2021) historiography of martial arts, Mauss (1934/1973) on techniques of the body, and the wider performance and somatic studies literature, my work examines how martial arts are interpreted, adapted, and recontextualized in Western settings — reshaping pedagogy, epistemology, and assumptions about expertise. This is the central thread of my dissertation and a continuing focus of my ongoing inquiry.
Available For
I undertake engagements on a selective basis across three forms. Each is anchored in published or in-process scholarship and prior collaborative work.
Commissioned Research
Foundation- or institution-funded qualitative research projects, particularly those requiring interdisciplinary frameworks, practitioner-informed methodology, or cross-cultural sensitivity. Typical formats include case studies, evaluations, white papers, and conceptual or theoretical reviews. I work as principal qualitative investigator, methodological consultant, or co-author depending on the project structure.
Recent and current methodologies include analytic autoethnography, instrumental case study, collaborative autoethnography, semi-structured interviewing with senior practitioners, and conceptual synthesis across ecological learning, cultural analysis, and embodied practice.
Applied Consultancy
Organizations addressing the design of high-stakes learning environments — surgical training programs, military pedagogy initiatives, athletic coaching programs, corporate learning and development teams — face a recurring problem: how to keep novices engaged while exposing them to genuine difficulty and risk. The frameworks of psychological safety, edgework, and ecological learning that anchor my published work offer concrete, design-based interventions for these contexts.
Indicative engagement formats include diagnostic reviews of existing training programs, facilitated design workshops, pilot intervention design and evaluation, and applied translation of academic frameworks into operational pedagogy.
Visiting Scholar and Research Fellowships
Short- and medium-term visiting scholar appointments at universities and research institutes working at the intersection of ecological learning, qualitative methodology, embodied practice, martial arts studies, transformative studies, or interdisciplinary doctoral training. I am available for in-residence, hybrid, or fully remote arrangements; teaching contributions are negotiable.
Questions?
Please contact me for more information.
What I Contribute to Collaborative Projects
- Doctoral-level training in interdisciplinary qualitative research, with experience teaching research design at the PhD level
- Long-term movement-based practice as sustained fieldwork, with practitioner-informed access to specialized communities
- Conceptual development bridging ecological learning theory, embodied practice, and cultural analysis
- Clear, publication-oriented academic writing, including coordination of multi-author manuscripts through peer review
- Grant-writing partnership for projects requiring qualitative or transdisciplinary methodology
Inquire About a Collaboration
If you are interested in discussing a research collaboration, commissioned project, consultancy engagement, or visiting appointment, please get in touch.
I respond to all serious inquiries within three business days. To help me reply usefully, please include in your initial message:
- The nature of the project or engagement, and your role
- Your institutional affiliation
- Timeline and approximate scope
- Funding context, if applicable
- How you came across my work
Please contact me here.
Questions?
Please contact me for more information.