Dr. Conant's current research is focused on Homeland/Transportation Security. In January of 2004, Professor Conant was awarded a three-year grant from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). In late 2006, the grant was extended for a fourth year (through 2007). The grant was recently renewed through 2010. The grant provides support for the delivery each year of a graduate seminar in Homeland/Transportation Security Administration. The grant also provides financial support for paid graduate internships in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at TSA.

Dr. Conant began his professional career in Wisconsin State Government, where he worked in the Office of the Governor and the State Budget Office. Most of his research publications are focused on the states. Public budgeting and financial management, executive branch organization and management, and management education and training are the principal topics of that research. During the 1980s, Dr. Conant was invited to contribute original research to the National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker Commission); in 1991 he was invited to contribute original research to the National Commission on American State and Local Public Service (Winter Commission). Additionally, Dr. Conant has served as a consultant to a variety of organizations in the public and private sectors, including environmental protection, transportation, education, and human service organizations.

Dr. Conant's most recent book, Wisconsin Politics and Government: America's Laboratory of Democracy, was published in 2006. This book is part of a series on politics and government in the 50 states; all of the books in the series are published by the University of Nebraska Press.

Prior to joining the faculty at George Mason University, Professor Conant was a member of the faculties at Rutgers University, New York University, and the University of Oklahoma. From 1989-1991, he was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Robert M. La Follette Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison.