Dr. Ernest taught in the early childhood program at SUNY Buffalo before coming to Valdosta State University in 2002. He is in the early childhood special education department and has taught a variety of courses from bachelors to doctoral level, face-to-face and fully online. He has served as the Assistant Department Head and Special Education Program Coordinator. In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Ernest is on the VSU team--and is the principle investigator--for Babies Can't Wait grants (over $1 million in the past 5 years), providing technical assistance throughout the state of Georgia (see VSU Connections article.)

His scholarly interests include examining socio-cultural perspectives in early childhood, promoting coaching as an evidence-based practice in early childhood, exploring the role of technology in training teacher candidates, and examining the level of physical activity/human performance of school age children.