Tom is a faculty member of the School of Earth Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is also executive director of the Global Water Institute. He is an internationally-recognized scholar with broad research interests in water and human health, water quality, critical energy resources, and noble-gas geochemistry. 

Tom and his team are focused on three primary areas of research:

• determining the geological processes that control the migration of fluids (e.g., water, natural gas, oil, carbon dioxide, helium) in the Earth's crust and mantle
• developing geochemical techniques that constrain and improve unconventional energy exploration and extraction
• applying traditional isotope geochemistry to evaluate the potential impacts of energy extraction on the environment and human health

His research  has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Petroleum Research Fund, the National Children's Study, as well as various international government, industry, and foundational sponsors.