Dr. Heath's training includes a BA in English from Lake Forest College, an MA in Art History from the University of Chicago, and an MA and PhD in American Studies from Brown University.

His previous work experience includes positions as the State Architectural Historian for the Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Supervisor of Historical Interpretation at Mystic Seaport, and Professor of Architectural History and Historic Preservation at Montana State University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Heath is a past 3-term member of the Board of Directors of the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF). Areas of specialization include vernacular architecture of the American West, New England workers' housing, American building construction history, and vernacular architecture theory. 

In addition to several articles and book chapters, he is the author of The Patina of Place: The Cultural Weathering of a New England Industrial Landscape, winner of the 2002 Abbott Lowell Cummings Prize by the VAF "in recognition of the outstanding work in North American vernacular studies", and Vernacular Architecture and Regional Design (2009). As founder of the Croatia Field School, an interdisciplinary program that focuses on the traditional stone architecture of Croatia's Central Dalmatian Coast, he has served for several years as director and continues to foster its growth. Dr. Heath teaches American Architecture from a Preservation Perspective I, II, and III.