In 1987, he was awarded the Francis Shepard medal for excellence in marine geology and in 1991 he was the N.C. Wildlife Federation Conservation Educator of the Year. In 1992 he became an honorary member of the Society for the Study of Sediments (SEPM), and was awarded the George V. Cohee Public Service Award by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. In 1993 he was awarded (jointly with William Neal) the American Geological Institute award for outstanding public communication. In the same year, he received the Jim Shea Award for Public Service from the National Association of Geology Teachers. Previously he was president of SEPM, the Society for the Study of Sediments, president of the North Carolina Academy of Science, and editor of the Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. He is co-editor and sometimes co-author of the ongoing 20 volume, state-specific Living With the Shore series published by the Duke University Press. He has also been featured in New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Oceans Magazine, The American Way, Fifty Plus, Smithsonian Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and National Geographic Magazine.

His research in recent years has been funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Geographic Society, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation, and a variety of private foundations.