Dr. Kyle Willmott's doctoral research broadly focused on questions of political and economic sociology, and Indigenous policy. His research specifically focused on how people come to see their relationships with others through the prism of taxation. His examination of the interaction between taxpayer identity with liberalism and settler colonialism sheds light on how and why people talk about politics through the lens of taxation.

While completing his thesis, Willmott published multiple sole-authored publications, including in the highly-ranked journals, Economy and Society and Critical Social Policy. His current research focuses on settler colonialism, policy knowledge, and fiscal politics concerning Indigenous-settler relations.

Dr. Sean Zwagerman reflects on Dr. Kyle Willmott's PhD examination and the external examiner's, Dr. Dale Spencer comments. "The external examiner described his thesis as exceptional and observed that a key contribution of the work is its systematic utilization of a governmentality analytic in relation to taxation."

Dr. Kyle Willmott is a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation and presently is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Alberta, where he continues his research on Indigenous-settler relations and the production of political and policy knowledge.