Philip grew up in the rural dairy lands of Pennsylvania. He developed a love for wildlife and the outdoors through trips to visit family in Colorado and hikes along the Appalachian trail with his friends. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and a M.S. from Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. Philip's thesis focused on pronghorn restoration efforts in the Chihuahuan Desert grasslands. After graduating with his M.S. in Natural Resource Management, he worked as a research associate for the Borderlands Research Institute on landscape-scale conservation planning projects in the desert southwest. Philip began working for the Dixon Water Foundation in 2019. Dixon Water Foundation owns several research and demonstration ranches in Texas, including the Mimms Unit in the desert Grasslands of far-west Texas and the Leo Ranch in North Central Texas. The Dixon Water Foundation focuses on promoting healthy watersheds through good land management and uses cattle grazing as their primary land management tool. The foundation also sponsors research into the relationship between ecosystem response to land management.