Keith's unusual professional career started in 1962 when he began as an agricultural research officer for the Victorian government. He moved to Melville Island to introduce the skills associated with commercial forestry production to the islanders. In 1968 that changed to rural land use management in West New Britain (PNG). He then returned to Melbourne in 1972, as a town planner. There he added a master's degree in env. sci. to his qualifications and in 1978 returned to the Northern Territory as the Power and Water Authority's Environmental manager. He retired in 2003 from Charles Darwin University as Director, Renewable Energy R&D. Keith travelled the world as Australia's representative on the IEA's photovoltaic subcommittee, and throughout SE Asia, as the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for renewable energy's representative.