In 1998, Anderson received his M.S. in Raptor Biology from Boise State University, studying avian diversity in Honduras. Directly afterward, he was the sole field biologist working in Honduras on the Diurnal Raptor Distribution and Ecology project with The Peregrine Fund.
Anderson was a Wildlife Technician with the Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game from 2001 to 2003.
From 2005 to 2007, Anderson was a co-principal investigator for the Cerulean Warbler Migration Ecology project at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory.
From 2007 to 2009, he was the sole ornithologist on the Honduran Emerald Working Group in an effort to describe the distribution and ecology of this critically endangered species.
In 2010, Anderson received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (Ornithology) from Louisiana State University, studying the community ecology of canopy-living birds.
Anderson was a lecturer for Biological Sciences at Boise State University until 2013 when he became the Gyrfalcon Conservation Director at The Peregrine Fund in Boise, Idaho.