Gwen's research focuses on decision-making by front-line government managers, both within U.S. municipalities and within natural resource agencies. She also studies diffusion of policy innovations across sub-state jurisdictions, federalism dynamics in the United States, and how government officials use scientific information in environmental management choices. Substantively, her prior work focused on wetland management, while her current work focuses on high-volume hydraulic fracturing (widely known as "fracking"). Her research methods include surveys, interviews, social network analysis, content analysis, and statistical modeling.