Speaking that Builds RESEARCH MINDSET Not Just Research Skills
SELECTED PAST SPEAKING
AIA Conference on Architecture 2026
June 10-13, 2026
San Diego, California, USA
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Upcoming EVENTS
EDRA57: Embracing Regional Sustainability
May 27–May 30, 2026
Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
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Signature SPEAKING TOPICS
I speak on a wide range of topics related to research in the built environment, from my own career journey to research methods, project case studies, and the nuts and bolts of building research capability in organizations. I'm also happy to develop custom sessions for your team or event. Below are my current signature topics.
Research is a Practice - Not a Project
Most organizations don't have a research problem. They have a research infrastructure problem. Studies get done, reports get delivered, and then everyone starts from scratch next time. The gap between collecting insights and acting on them is where investment gets wasted and institutional knowledge disappears. This session reframes research as an organizational capability to build, not a service to buy, giving leaders frameworks to create research systems that compound over time.
Key Takeaways:
Research Maturity Stages: Diagnosing where your organization is, methods that may be over-leveraged, and what the next level of capability actually looks like.
Fidelity vs. Frequency: Right-sizing research investments based on capacity instead of over- or under-investing.
From Insights to Action: Designing research systems that embed findings into how teams actually work.
“Weird” Wins: Navigating Research Careers in Practice
Research training teaches methodology, not how to navigate the politics of industry projects, translate insights for executives, or build credibility across teams. The leadership skills that matter most in practice aren't part of most education programs. Over 25 years building an interdisciplinary career spanning archaeology, theater, environmental psychology, and a decade in integrated design, B has identified patterns in what holds researchers back.
Key Takeaways:
The Leadership Gap: Skills research programs don't teach that matter most in practice… and why you probably won’t learn them in practice either.
Career-Limiting Mistakes: Common pitfalls and how to avoid them as you grow.
Interdisciplinary as Strength: How nonlinear paths create unique perspectives and deepen the value of research skillsets.
Gather Better Insights, Build Real Trust: Avoiding Research Debt
Research is a form of communication. Every survey, interview, or prompt sends signals about who a project is for and what is being prioritized. Most stakeholder engagement processes ask people to pay a "disclosure tax": revealing private details to justify legitimate needs. Researchers and designers can extract this cost without realizing it, and the damage compounds as "research debt" that silently erodes both relationships and outcomes. Drawing on critiques of user-centered design from adjacent fields like software development, this session introduces practical frameworks for researchers and non-researchers to gather authentic insights while protecting key relationships.
Key Takeaways:
The Disclosure Tax: Recognizing when processes inadvertently require harmful disclosure and designing around it.
Listening Theatre vs. Real Research: Why extractive engagement undermines both quality and trust.
Research Debt: How shortcuts in engagement compound into lasting damage to project outcomes and relationships.
Curious Thinking: Research Mindset as Creative Practice
Breakthrough creativity isn't magic. Research on Nobel laureates, celebrated artists, and accomplished scientists reveals that creative breakthroughs follow predictable cycles of exploration, error, and expansion. Most organizations skip the steps that don't look like progress, and that's exactly where the breakthroughs live. Drawing on neuroscience, cognitive science, and a parallel career in performing and visual arts, this session reframes the research mindset as one of the most powerful creative practices available, and gives teams practical ways to create the conditions where breakthrough thinking actually happens.
Key Takeaways:
The Exploration-Exploitation Cycle: Predictable patterns in how breakthrough creativity actually happens.
From Error to Expansion: Why constraint and failure are essential steps, not obstacles.
Creating Conditions for Creativity: Making organizational space for multiple approaches to innovation.