I am a historian of technology and the Lukas N. Walker Presidential Professor in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Oklahoma. My research in the history of technology in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, has focused  on the ways that technology and technological change were embedded in debates about equity, and national identity in the twentieth century. I am the author of Technology in Southeast Asian History (2023), Technology and Ethical Idealism: A History of Development in the Netherlands East Indies (2007), and numerous research articles.

My current research explores change to modern agriculture since 1990, investigating the technological imagination that has shaped ongoing change and adaptation to shifts in land use shifts and water availability. I am especially interested in major changes in the production of staple grains and meat in response to crises of supply and ongoing challenges of severe weather.

I was awarded the 2021 Da Vinci Medal by the Society for the History of Technology for outstanding contributions to the history of technology.

Throughout my career, I have been interested in extending the geographic boundaries of the history of technology, and exploring how we can tell richer stories of the human experience of technology and technological change. My book Technology in Southeast Asian History (2023) explores technological change across Southeast Asia over the long durée, exploring the entanglement of technology with Southeast Asian politics, social life, economics, and culture. It is available through Johns Hopkins University Press.