His graduate studies focused on innovation and conflict, earning him both an MA and Ph.D. in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada. His master's thesis examined U.S.-Canada cooperation and public policy in missile defence and space programs, while his post-graduate dissertation examined the nature of defence innovation, using the evolution of Canada's post war rocket and space program, and the relationships created between government, defence, and science and technology in Canada as his case study. He was the first person in Canada to declassify and examine several of the earliest records on Canadian post-war rocketry, upper atmospheric, and space research during the completion of his doctorate. His subsequent publication of this research initiated a fundamental reassessment of Canada's political and security roles in missile defence and outer space during the early Cold War period.