Walker's pioneering studies map corporate adoption of social movement tactics, spotlighting battles over fracking, climate policy, and net-zero transitions, with findings published in top outlets like Annual Review of Sociology and Academy of Management Discoveries. Honored with the Charles Tilly Award for his book on commercialized activism and a Stanford CASBS fellowship, he bridges academia and practice by advising community groups on countering business lobbying. Though anchored at UCLA, his frameworks on corporate influence resonate in Miami's debates over tourism lobbying and coastal development pressures, offering tools to unpack South Florida's real estate and hospitality power plays.