His academic focus is on extreme precipitation events and flooding. But his interest in such extremes doesn’t end there. He wants to use that knowledge to make the world a safer place. Towards that goal he’s convened a group of graduate students “undertaking research on some aspect of extreme precipitation, flooding, floodplain management, engineering, societal and behavioral aspects of precipitation or floods, etc., with an interest in multidisciplinary approaches and perspectives” to participate in a “Studies of Precipitation, flooding, and Rainfall Extremes Across Disciplines (SPREAD) workshop.”[1]