My career is dedicated to thinking differently. To understanding. To excellence. I challenge myself. My students and colleagues. Established paradigms. The status quo. \*\*\*\*\*\* I serve as co-PI of the Kansas Interdisciplinary Consortium of Earth, Energy, and Environment (KICE3), an academic-industry consortium dedicated to research, training, and education for understanding carbonate systems. I facilitate solving the pressing challenges in applied carbonate geology. My personal research program, part of KICE3, focuses on unravelling and quantifying the nature and controls on variability in surface processes and geomorphic forms in tropical marine and nearshore sedimentary systems. My research emphasizes field study of modern ramps and atolls, where both process (waves, tides, chemistry, etc.) and product (e.g., sediment, biota, geomorphology) can be observed, and their relations rigorously evaluated and numerically modelled. Recent studies have documented global patterns in distribution and character of reef and reef sand aprons, the role of physical and chemical oceanography on a carbonate ramp system, and the role of sediment transport pathways on island dynamics. The focus has evolved naturally to evaluating the impact of global change on Earth-surface processes in shallow marine and coastal tropical systems, including reefs and coastlines. These studies include addressing questions regarding possible future changes in response to ENSO, sea-level rise, or variations in wave climate. Examining study areas ranging from the Pacific (Kiribati, Tokelau, French Polynesia, Cook Islands), to Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia), to the Caribbean (Bahamas, Yucatan, Mexico, Turks and Caicos), my perspective is global. With Walter Goldberg, I am co-author of the book "A Global Atlas of Atolls" (2023) that describes all of the world's atolls. Beyond efforts on modern systems, the research has direct application to understanding geologic analogs in the stratigraphic record via development of testable quantitative and conceptual models for the origin and heterogeneity of the stratigraphy of ancient carbonate reef, shoal, ramp, and platform successions. Key means include high-resolution, sequence-based analysis of subsurface analogs using core, log, and seismic data, and includes efforts in Malaysia, Kansas, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. \*\*\* With my daughters, we founded Goals For Good to foster mutual awareness, appreciation, and understanding between the peoples of Pacific island nations (especially Kiribati) and the USA.