His primary research focus is the history of the social roles of languages, especially regional varieties of Chinese. He also publishes on language learning and teaching and on intercultural communication. At Duke Kunshan he has taught language and writing courses, and served as Senior Director of the Language and Culture Center.

He is the author of "Cantonese as Written Language: The Growth of a Written Chinese Vernacular" (Hong Kong University Press, 2004) as well as more than a dozen articles on sociolinguistics in leading academic journals such as International Journal of the Sociology of Language and Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. He has also authored books and textbooks related to language learning and teaching, such as "More Than a Native Speaker: An Introduction for Volunteers Teaching English Abroad (TESOL International, 2017, third edition).

Snow has a B.A. in history from College of Wooster, Ohio, an M.A. in English/TESOL from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Indiana University. Before joining Duke Kunshan, he was Executive Director of the English Language Center at Shantou University.