Ross works on educational outreach for the CZO National Office. His science education work focuses on the use of familiar places and organisms to teach Earth and environmental systems and their history. His activities focus upon a wide variety of audiences, including the general public, K-12 and college students, and teachers. Ross's scientific work has focused upon diversification and distribution of life with respect to interactions among life, climate, ocean, and tectonic dynamics. He interests include how to involve nonspecialist audiences (such as students) in collecting data toward understanding change through time in organisms and their environments.